


One Decision Changes Everything

by cassikat



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family, Gen, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-01
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2017-12-10 02:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 76,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/780525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassikat/pseuds/cassikat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One decision can change a life. Or three. Donna made the decision to stay for Jenny's funeral, and the changes ripple throughout the Universe. An AU beginning with the end of The Doctor's Daughter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Decision

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of them, I'm just playing in the BBC's sandbox with all their lovely toys.
> 
> Author's Note: I started this bugger in Sept of 2011, so have fun watching my writing evolve. Anyway, I hope you have as much fun reading as I did coming up with the idea in the first place :)

"Doctor, I'm staying."

That sentence was so unexpected, it stopped the Doctor in his tracks, hand stretched out for the door of the TARDIS. Befuddled, the Doctor stood and stared at Donna in disbelief before swallowing hard and squeaking out "Forever? Here?"

"No, you daft git," Donna snorted and shook her head. "But I can't just go off and leave before the...before Jenny's funeral. I dunno about Time Lords, but I...well I need closure. Funerals do that."

"Oh." He rather thought that Donna thought it would be a good idea for all of them to stay, and if she was staying, he _ought_ to, but he couldn't. Not with his hearts so recently shattered. Not when it had taken him too long to realise just what a precious gift he'd let fall through his fingers. "I...I can't. I just...can't"

"I thought as much, Doctor." Donna smiled sadly and rested her hand on his arm for a moment, then squeezed and let it fall. "Just leave me the number for that mobile you've got in the TARDIS and I'll call when...well, when it's all over."

He tried for a smile but it failed miserably, and instead he swept Donna into a tight hug. When he felt he could speak again, he let her go and programmed the number into her mobile. "Will you...make sure they understand?"

"Course I will," Donna smiled sadly and tucked her mobile back in her pocket. "Go on now, take Martha home." She'd tell him to find someone to talk to while he waited on her, but who else would understand what he was going through right now? Even Martha didn't seem to, and she'd been there too. It was almost enough to change her mind, but she was set. She'd see about encouraging him to talk later, when it was all over.

"All right." He smiled wanly, then slipped into the TARDIS. Donna waited until that wonderful blue box had vanished, then made her way back towards the hall where Jenny had been laid out, but got sidetracked with some problems the Haath were having.

* * *

"Doctor, are you sure that was a good idea? Leaving Donna on Messaline? They only just stopped fighting, it could break out again." Martha looked up at her tall alien friend, and would have continued voicing her concerns if he hadn't interrupted.

"Martha, if there's one thing I've learned about Donna, it's that it is pointless to argue with her when her mind is made up. What was I supposed to do, pick her up and carry her off kicking and screaming?" He sighed as they walked towards Martha's place. "Besides, if they dared even think about it, she'd shout them into surrender in nothing flat."

"Well I suppose. She's pretty smart, she can probably handle them if they do think about it."

"Course she can. She's brilliant. Probably got everyone too busy arranging things so they can be a colony again to think about fighting anyway."

"Mmm. She's good for you, too," Martha smiled and turned to face him when they reached her door. "I'm glad you found her."

"I didn't find her, she found me." He managed a chuckle, then bent down to hug his former companion. "It was good to see you again, Martha Jones. Maybe next time we can manage a visit without an invasion?"

"That'd be good, Doctor, and then you can explain what you meant by she found you." Martha hugged him back, then smiled. "You'd better go on - I don't want you calling later because you were late and got Donna mad at you."

He shuddered dramatically. "No, I definitely don't want her mad at me for making her wait. She's got a fierce right hook." He smiled, then turned and walked back to the TARDIS, long coat barely waving as he walked away, shoulders slumped.

Martha watched as the TARDIS dematerialized and wondered just how the Doctor had found out about Donna's right hook. That was probably another tale worth the hearing. She'd have to call them in a week or two and see if she could at least talk Donna into sharing some stories.

* * *

Donna had wound up killing an hour or two helping out here and there. It wasn't easy, getting two races of soldiers used to being regular people again, but she thought she'd given them a good start. She'd even told them how to hold a proper trial, because humans and Haath both thought General Cobb and some Hath muck-a-muck whose name she didn't catch needed one for trying to continue the conflict. She'd gotten in a few good slaps on that Cobb too, when he broke out of confinement and tried to get the fighting started again. And she'd punched his Haath counterpart in the stomach - couldn't very well slap something that had a fishtank over it's face, could she?

Now she was tired, physically and emotionally, and she sighed as she slumped lower in the chair by Jenny's makeshift bier. If they didn't figure out how to start a funeral soon, she was going to have to organize that too, and she didn't think she could quite bear it. She stretched and sighed, then shifted to sit upright in the chair again when Cline and one of the Haath finally came in to start preparations. Both the boys (she thought the Haath was a boy, anyway) nodded to her and shifted Jenny around slightly.

There was a tiny wisp of something showing sort of golden-green just above Jenny's face, and Donna rubbed her eyes, thinking it was just a hallucination, and it was actually dust being weird in the sunlight now streaming through the windows. But then, suddenly, Jenny opened her eyes and said, "Hello, boys."

Donna watched, her mouth hanging open in disbelief, as Jenny sat up and stretched, then hopped off the bier and, yeah, she was definitely bouncing on her way over. _So_ much her father's daughter...blimey! The Doctor - she had to call him and tell him about this right away! Well, in a minute or two, when she properly believed this was happening.

"Hullo Donna! Where's Dad and Martha?" Jenny hugged the red-headed woman who'd been mostly so good to her, and frowned a little when she didn't hug back immediately. "Donna? What's wrong? Are you all right?" She shifted from hug to running her hands over Donna, trying to check for injuries.

For some reason, that pulled Donna from her stupefaction, and she gently grabbed Jenny's hands to stop her. "I'm fine, I'm not hurt. But you were dead, sweetheart," She did her own version of what Jenny had, but only checking one spot - where she'd been shot, and should have had a great hole in her chest. But it was just smooth skin and healthy bone, and she shook her head even as she swept the girl into a big hug. "You were dead, and now you're not, and you didn't regenerate. I don't know how you did it, but I'm so glad to see you again!"

Jenny was a bit baffled, but gladly hugged Donna back. When she let go, she pulled Donna out of the chair and started tugging on her hand. "C'mon, let's go find Dad and Martha...unless something bad happened?"

"No, nothing bad happened to them. Other than...well, losing you. Martha had to go back home, so your dad left me here and took her back. I'll just ring him up though and he'll be right back." Donna hugged Jenny again, then fumbled out her mobile. "Oh, he'll be so thrilled to see you - right old misery he was when he left."

Both of them ignored Cline and the Haath running out of the room - Donna was too busy calling the Doctor, and Jenny was too excited about the prospect of seeing her dad again to pay attention to her situational awareness.

"...oh come on you prawn, answer the - Doctor!"

"Donna? What's wrong? Have they started fighting again?"

"What? Why would they...no, they haven't started fighting again, they're even putting that Cobb and apparently his Haath twin on trial for trying to start it up again. No, listen to me, you have to come back here right now. Jenny's alive and standing right next to me."

"..."

"Oh don't be like that, just get here, and no, I'm not making a cruel joke, I wouldn't do that to you, Spaceman."

"But...how?"

"Dunno. There was this wisp of goldy-greeny stuff just above her face, then she sat up like she'd never been shot. Now, are you coming?"

"Donna, yes, of course I'm coming!"

"About time, prawn, now how...oh, that's new."

The TARDIS materialized around Donna and Jenny, and Donna closed her mobile, then gave Jenny a gentle shove towards her dad.

Grinning like a madman, the Doctor closed the distance between them and pulled Jenny off her feet into the biggest hug he'd yet to give her. "Jenny, oh Jenny, this is fantastic! Brilliant!"

"Oh yes!" Jenny hugged her Dad just as tightly, not even minding that her feet weren't touching the floor. They stood like that for some time, just holding each other, until Donna touched both their shoulders.

"We probably should get into somewhere more comfortable. Why don't you show Jenny how to put the TARDIS into the Vortex and I'll put the kettle on?"

The Doctor gently set his daughter back on her feet, then pulled Donna into a hug. "Thank you Donna. Thank you so much for staying." An extra squeeze, then he let her go, still smiling broadly. "And that's an excellent plan, brilliant even! Allons-y!"

And with that, he pulled Jenny over to the console with him and started her first TARDIS piloting lesson. Donna stood for a moment and watched the pair enthusiastically babble at each other, then smiled and walked down the hall, fingers trailing along the wall. "It's going to be a lot more energetic around here, isn't it?" She laughed softly at the gust of warm air and the contented hum she received in reply, then continued to the kitchen. Tea and perhaps some sandwiches, and then she would be off to bed.

* * *

About five minutes after the TARDIS departed, Cline and Haath Peth ran back into the room, several others on their heels. "Where'd they go?"

Haath Peth burbled at Cline, who frowned at him and then shrugged. "I suppose you're right. Still, the least they could have done was stick around and celebrate the miracle."

Another burble, and Peth gently gripped Cline's shoulder. "You do have a point, Peth. We'd try to keep them, and they wouldn't like that." He turned to face the group of humans and Haath that had followed them, and made shooing gestures. "All right people, let's get back to work. We've got a civilization to build, and legends to make proud of us."

* * *

A decade later and Messaline was a beautiful world, peaceful and full of promise as it had always been meant to be. And they had memorials, lest the hard lessons learned at their beginning be forgotten. The most popular one was of three statues in a lush garden. The Man Who Never Would forever stood over broken guns, the intense gaze on the face of the statue seeming to look into the soul of each person who viewed it, daring them to always do the right thing no matter how hard it was. The Organizer stood to the right of the Man, somehow inspiring a sense of spirit as well as a calm orderliness that soothed the troubled soul. And the third, The Goddess' Gift stood between the other two, dressed in a soldier's uniform, yet at her feet too were broken guns, and for any observer her expression of pure joy in the world only reinforced their determination to keep Messaline worthy of inspiring that same joy in all her peoples.

And one day a Messaline century later, the Doctor, Donna and Jenny would return to the planet and be horribly embarrassed when they found their statuary memorial.


	2. Interlude: Settling in

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Think everyone knows I don't own them, that's the task of the BBC. 
> 
> Author's note: Interlude to show some family bonding and some dreaded domestics. And yes I know Sylvia is OOC, I can't stand the woman as she is in canon.
> 
> Anyway, read, enjoy, comment if you feel like it. :)

Donna smiled in her mug of tea as she heard the sounds of the Doctor and Jenny approaching the kitchen. It sounded like he was explaining that the TARDIS was sentient, and she took her feet off the chair she'd had them propped on as they got closer.

"...so you see, being grown gave the TARDIS the beginnings of intelligence, and then having a symbiotic bond with her pilot - me - for all these centuries has let the dear old girl properly develop her sentience."

"But if she's sentient, can't you just...I dunno, tell her where to go mentally? Why use controls? And if she's sentient, that means it's cruel to hit her with a mallet like you did."

"It's easier on both of us to use the controls, Jenny, because the mental contact required to skip them is very draining. Although she does take a lot of burden on herself, with me being the only one piloting her for so long. Still, I manage most of the controls and can pay attention to any alarms or unexpected situations, and that lets her concentrate on avoiding any eddies or other issues in the Vortex. Mostly." They entered the kitchen, and the Doctor beamed at Donna. "Ah, tea's ready - excellent! And you even made sandwiches - thank you Donna!"

"Hi Donna. What's that you're drinking?" But Jenny couldn't be distracted for very long at all, and she gave her dad the cutest little evil eye that he had ever seen. "Don't think you can brush me off, Dad. Why do you hit her with a mallet when she's sentient?"

"Tea, Jenny. I didn't know how you'd like yours, so I left yours plain. Your dad likes it with two sugars, and so do I. But there's lemon there too, because some people like it." Donna smirked at the Doctor and picked up a sandwich - he could explain why he hit the old girl with a mallet or whatever else was handy. She was having waaay too much fun to interrupt now.

"Tea is a drink made by steeping the dried leaves of the _Camellia sinensis_ plant in hot water," the Doctor added, because he could tell that Jenny was about to ask. "The drink and the plant both have a long and interesting history...whiiiich I can go into later. And I hit the console with a mallet because I've had to improvise parts to repair the controls with, and sometimes they get discombobulated. A whack with the mallet usually fixes that temporarily, and then I can fix it properly when we've got down-time."

"And you can't get proper parts because they don't exist anymore. Poor TARDIS. And you." Jenny sat down in the chair Donna'd had her feet propped in and sampled her tea. "That's a sharp taste. I can see why you two like sugar in it." She added two sugars, sipped again and frowned. "Still missing something. Donna? Is there a particular method for adding lemon, whatever it is?"

"See those little yellow fruit wedges, sweetheart? Those are lemon slices - you squeeze the juice out of one over your cup." She watched with a fond smile, shared with the Doctor, as Jenny squeezed the wedge and then licked her fingers and got _such_ a shocked look on her face.

"You didn't tell me lemons were so tart!"

"Sorry, Jenny, I didn't even think about it. But try your tea now, see if that was what's missing." While Jenny sipped again, she took the chance to down more of her sandwich.

"That is so _weird_!" Jenny stared at the lemon, her mug of tea, then her dad and Donna. "That's exactly what it was missing, but I never would have added it if I'd tasted the lemon first!"

The Doctor grinned and put a plate with two sandwiches and a banana in front of his daughter. "Never be afraid to try something new, Jenny. And just wait till you try one of my lemon tartlets."

"Which I didn't have any of to set out because _somebody_ ate the last ones." Donna finished her sandwich and tea, and stood to put her mug and plate in the sink. "And we're going to have a busy day tomorrow getting you more things to wear, Jenny, so I'm going to bed so I'll have the energy to keep up with you."

"Donna! We are not going shopping tomorrow!" The Doctor looked equal parts shocked and horrified, which made Donna grin.

"Yes we are, Spaceman. You can't expect Jenny to wear the same thing all the time, even if that's what you do." She wagged her finger at him, then smirked. "Besides, even if she didn't need clothes, we need to do the shop anyway cos we're almost out of biscuits, Hob Nobs, jelly babies and marmalade, and we need milk and bread and other things too. TARDIS may be a brilliant darling, but she can't make Hob Nobs. And I don't even want to think about hearing you complaining about there being no jelly babies."

"But Donna, I hate shopping." The Doctor tried puppy-eyes to go along with his whinging, but Donna wasn't having any of it.

"So take us to Chiswick tomorrow, and you can chat with Gramps or fix bits and bobs for the TARDIS while I take Jenny out. Probably get everything done faster that way anyway, you big baby."

"But-"

"No buts. Shopping, tomorrow. And I don't want to hear that we've wound up on Planet Zog instead, Martian Boy." Donna nodded decisively, then hugged Jenny. "Good night, sweetheart. Don't let your Dad keep you up too late. And don't you let her keep you up too late either." She then ruffled the Doctor's hair and left the kitchen for a bath and bed, ignoring his complaints that there was no such thing as Planet Zog. That he knew of.

"Dad?"

"Yes Jenny?"

"Donna's...um. Determined?"

"Yeah," The Doctor ran his hands through his hair to try and undo what Donna had done with that affectionate ruffle, then smiled at his daughter. Such a lovely girl. And it was all thanks to Donna that he even had a chance to try and be a good Dad, even though he was terrified of being a horrible one instead. But he did have to try and explain Donna a bit, didn't he? Nice, if brief distraction from his worries. "Donna's like an immovable object sometimes. Or an irresistible force - she gets a notion in her head, and won't stop until it's accomplished. But she's usually right when she's like that."

"And that's good, because even in the short time I've known you two, you...well, you do seem like you have a propensity for everything having to be your way or else. Even when it's wrong. And if she can stop you all the time when you're wrong, that's really really good." Jenny turned her attention to her food then, and completely missed the flabbergasted look on the Doctor's face. "I also like how she takes care of us too. It makes me feel all warm and cared for."

From the mouths of babes, the Doctor thought, as he absently finished his food. She's my daughter all right, rude and not ginger, but she's apparently somehow picked up Donna's perceptiveness by osmosis. I wonder...should I tell Jenny about the first time I met Donna? How she told me to find someone who could stop me? Wouldn't hurt, much. Just let her see how fallible I am...and how lucky I was that Donna decided to come looking for me after all.

Jenny looked up from her banana (she liked the taste, but she wasn't quite sure about the texture) and frowned at her Dad. "Dad? Are you all right? You're just kind of staring off into space there."

"What? Oh, fine, yes I'm fine. It's just what you said reminded me of the first time I met Donna." He smiled and gestured to the banana she still held. "D'you like it?"

"I'd like to hear about that sometime, if you want to tell me," Jenny tilted her head to the side, then nodded. "Yeah, I like the taste. But the texture's a bit odd. What's it called?"

"Later, it's quite a story and it's been a longish day. Tomorrow after the shopping, I'll tell you all about it. And that's a banana. Lovely fruit, grows in tropical areas on Earth and most planets that humans colonize throughout time and space. There's so much you can do with bananas too - make smoothies and milkshakes, puddings, muffins, pancakes, banana-nut bread - Donna makes magnificent banana bread, I'll have to see if I can coax her into making some soon." He grinned and bounced to his feet, collecting used and empty plates and his mug to do the washing up. "Finish up, we've got things to do. The TARDIS is your home now, and you should pick out your very own bedroom."

"Why?" The word was a bit muffled by being spoken around the last bite of banana. Jenny finished the last of her tea and took her plate and mug to the sink for her dad. "What's a bedroom for?"

"Oh, lots of things," he said as he finished and dried his hands. "Sleeping is the main thing a bedroom's for, hence the words bed and room combined, but they also serve as a quiet space to shut the world away and relax or think."

"Well, I am a little tired," Jenny yawned, shook her head, and smiled at her dad. "But you're still energetic...is that something that'll happen when I'm older? Not needing sleep?"

"Nah. Well, not so much. But you're tired because you had a lot of healing to do, and thanks to the readings I took off you earlier, and time to think, I figured out how it happened." He put his arm around her shoulders and ushered her out the door and down the hall. "See, it's because we were all right there when the Source was released to do what it was supposed to. That was a lot of energy along with all those gasses, all meant to make life and we were there at ground zero, so to speak. It'll metabolize off for me, didn't have any effect at all on Donna, Martha, or the rest, but you...you're a Time Lord like me, but brand new, almost like you were fresh off a regeneration, full of energy but you didn't know how to regenerate. So what it did for you was hold you in a death-mimicking coma-state while your body did some of what it was supposed to and healed up."

"Are you sure it didn't have any effect on anyone else? I'd hate for something bad to happen to anyone just from setting life loose to happen. And what's 'regenerate' mean, anyway? Donna mentioned that too, when I woke up, she said I didn't do it but there I was alive."

"Positive. It was designed by humans, and it wouldn't hurt them or any of the Haath because it was meant to make a world they could live in. We just absorbed a little of the energy because we aren't human. Regeneration...well, it's a trick of biology that Time Lords have. When we're on the brink of death, we change instead. Everything changes, and the damage is repaired, but you have to at least be aware of the process first. I'll explain it in-depth later, when I start to teach you bio-control."

"That's good." Jenny heaved a relieved sigh, then smothered another yawn and stared at her dad. "...you mean I'm going to learn how to control everything about my body?" Jenny paused at a mental tug that felt...hopeful? Yes, that was it. The TARDIS wanted her to look in this room and hoped she'd like it. "I think we should look in here."

"Yup," he said, popping the 'p'. "So much for you to learn about everything. And I'm going to love every minute of teaching you." He queried the TARDIS mentally, and smiled at the reply. "Yes, we should. The old girl does like to fix up rooms - you should see Donna's. When she wakes up though, and you've asked. It's rude to pry without permission." He rubbed his cheek, as though he was remembering a particular slap, then grinned. "So, let's find out what you've been given." He beamed at Jenny and made a grand gesture at the door. "Your room, if you like it. You go first."

"I can't wait to start!" She grinned and gave her Dad a quick hug, then opened the door of the room and took a few steps inside. "Wow. This is...wow!" She looked around the room, taking in everything about it. Two doors beside the one just behind her, a deep, lush, green carpet that she couldn't wait to get her toes into, and a large bed covered in a teal duvet with blue pillows. She pulled the duvet back to see slightly paler blue sheets, then whirled around and slid open one of the doors to see a smaller room, empty except for two rods with hanging things dangling down. Only one had anything on it, and she pulled it off the rod and turned to the door. "Dad? Why's there a room inside the bedroom? And what's this?"

"Oh, that's a closet, and Donna's is huge, but she's got loads of clothes. You put your clothes in it, well, the ones that need hanging. Clothes that want folding go in that dresser over there." He was leaning in the door, enjoying her pleased reaction to the lovely room the TARDIS had set up for her. "And that is a pyjama set. For sleeping in - much more comfortable than sleeping in everyday clothes. Probably the TARDIS got it out of the wardrobe, which I'll show you tomorrow. And was one of the reasons I didn't want to go shopping, but Donna does have her heart set on getting you clothes."

"Oh. Clothes specifically for sleeping in sounds weird, but I guess I'll get used to it." She laid the pyjamas on the bed and put the hangar back in the closet, then investigated the dresser. After examining the medium-dark wood object, she opened the other door and stood, mouth hanging open in surprise. "Oh, wow."

"Found the bathroom, eh?" He grinned and walked over to look over her shoulder. "Wow indeed. That's a brilliant shower the old girl set up for you. And a lovely tub too, good for soaking when you're tired and sore."

"I like the wavy pattern in the tiles...it's appropriate for a room with lots of water." She turned and hugged her dad, then stroked one of the walls. "It's perfect! Thank you, TARDIS, it's wonderful!" She giggled when she felt the TARDIS give her a mental hug. "I am never going to get used to that."

"What?"

"The TARDIS just hugged me again." She beamed and stroked the wall again. "I wish I could hug her back."

"Ah. Yes, well, that's another series of lessons, probably should start them first. You're a bit telepathic, like I am and so's the TARDIS, and once you've learned how to control it you'll be able to talk to the old girl in your mind, instead of just nudges and hugs and so on." He gave her a tentative smile and continued. "You'll be able to talk to me in your mind too, if you want."

"Of course I want to," Jenny tilted her head and frowned a little. "Not all the time though, right?"

"Course not. We've got voices for a reason...course I never stop using mine, seems like. Got quite a gob, I do."

"I noticed." She giggled, then yawned again. "I guess that means I should tuck up and go to sleep, doesn't it? Even though I don't really want to."

"Yup." The Doctor hugged his daughter, then planted a kiss on the top of her head. "You've got plenty of time to learn everything, Jenny. Sleep now and start fresh in the morning."

"Mmhmm." She hugged her dad and sighed contentedly. When they let go, she smiled up at her dad. "I'm reallyreally glad to be here though."

"And I'm reallyreally glad to have you here. Good night, and have sweet dreams."

"Night Dad. You too."

* * *

Jenny was undecided about shopping. Yes, she was with Donna, and it was brilliant, and yes, having more than one outfit would come in handy, and it was fun trying clothes on. But she didn't understand why anyone would want to wear something so impractical as a dress. She also didn't like shoe shopping. But at least that was mostly Donna doing the trying on, and she was allowed to get away with trainers for running in and only one pair of completely impractical shoes. They were supposed to go with that likewise-impractical dress, but they made her feel all wobbly, even if she was an inch taller in them. She wouldn't be able to run or fight or do anything in them, and that made her a bit sulky about Donna's insisting she keep them.

The sulks left at lunch though - no time to sulk when confronted with the sheer variety of shapes and flavours that food could come in! Oh, and chocolate sauce on ice cream! Chocolate was _wonderful_ , and so was the ice cream, and it was worth every moment she'd spent arguing with Donna about the dress and silly shoes. She'd have to see about getting some more of it, to take in the TARDIS when they left.

The food part of the shopping was even more interesting, and she got introduced to things like cereal, and other fruits than bananas, and she finally found out how ice cream traveled. And so many kinds of chocolate! She'd been full of questions all through the Tesco and during the ride back to where Donna's family lived, and Donna had answered every one with a smile or a laugh. Or both. Donna was just wonderful, and she wondered if she'd be interested in being a mum for her.

That had been an odd discussion - prompted by the question she'd asked about a teeny tiny person - about how people were normally born and how it took both a dad and a mum to make babies that would grow up to eventually be dads or mums themselves. It seemed like a lot of work to Jenny, but it must be worth it or so many people wouldn't do it. But it didn't seem like something she'd want to do, because it sounded so incredibly messy and time-consuming. And how would she run if she had a baby?

It did get her wondering a bit though, about her dad and Donna, and whether they would ever like each other enough to want to make babies together. She didn't ask about that though - she might only be a day in existence, but she wasn't stupid! No, she'd just watch them for a while, and if they seemed like they might be thinking that way, -then- she'd ask. But she was still going to ask Dad if she could call Donna Mum, since she acted that way as near as Jenny could determine.

* * *

"Aye-aye! Here they are, back again! Have fun sweethearts?" Wilf hugged Donna, then smiled and hugged Jenny too. She was a dear girl, sweet and enthusiastic and a joy to be around. He did wonder a bit, whether Donna and the Doctor were going to get closer with Jenny in the mix now, but he'd not ask. Probably just the wishful thinking of an old man anyway. Still, he was so good for Donna...

"Always, Gramps," Donna grinned and gave her granddad a kiss on the cheek. "Even picked you up some things, as well as getting the shop done for us and Mum. Where is she, by the way? Shouldn't she be back by now?"

"Ta much," he said as he peeked in one of the bags to see the treats Donna had bought that his daughter just didn't let him have anymore. "They're held up in traffic, won't be back for another half-hour. Good all round, I'd say - himself's been a bit fidgety worrying about Sylvia coming back without you being here too." He took the bag he'd peeked in and the one Donna handed him, and walked inside the house with Jenny, who was carrying more bags. "So sweetheart, how was your first shopping trip?"

"It was...well, good and bad. I liked getting clothes, but Donna insisted I get a ridiculously impractical pair of shoes too. They make me wobble when I walk, and I don't like them. But mostly it was good!" Jenny beamed at Wilf - he was such a nice man! There was a lot of him in Donna, too, which explained it, in reverse.

"Ah, you wouldn't have had experience with heels yet then. You'll get the hang of it with some practice...do you have a nice dress to go with them? Must have done, or my Donna wouldn't have bothered with the shoes, really." He started putting away the groceries, with special care to hide his treats, as he talked but still paid plenty of attention to Jenny.

"It's lovely, almost matches my eyes, and it's got a silver pattern on it. It's not very practical, though." She unpacked her bags, and wished she knew where everything went in this kitchen - she wanted to help.

"Now, now, dresses are meant to make girls look even lovelier than they already are, they aren't meant to be practical. Not these days." He patted her cheek fondly, then snickered as he saw the Doctor walk by the outside door laden with bags, and Donna following, equally loaded down. "Looks like Donna's put your Dad to work too, Jenny."

She looked up in time to see her dad looking very put upon and Donna apparently scolding him or something similar, and giggled. "Oh, I wish I'd had a camera! I'd have taken a picture of that for sure!"

"Bit of teasing for your old Dad, eh?"

"Suppose so." Jenny frowned and handed Wilf more things. "I wish I knew more about being part of a family. It's wonderful, but it's soooo confusing at the same time!" She heaved a sigh and sat down.

"Families can be like that at the best of times when assembled the normal way. Yours is a bit unusual, and it's going to take getting used to for all of you. Give it time, you'll see everything snap into place."

"I do like having them though. It's much better than not having a Dad. Or Donna." Jenny folded the empty bags and stacked them neatly while Wilf put away the last of the shopping.

"My little General is a special girl, all right. Warms my old heart to see her so happy with your Dad. And with you she's even happier, seems like." Wilf sat at the table with Jenny and gave her a steady look. "You will help your dad look after her, won't you? I worry that she's so busy looking after him she'll forget to take care of herself."

"I like Donna taking care of us, it makes me feel all warm inside. Course I'll help look after her, it's only fair to share the warmth. And I'm better at looking after someone's safety than Dad, anyway."

"Thank you sweetheart, you've taken a load off this old man's mind." Wilf got up and went to fuss with the kettle. "They're headed back now, so time to put the kettle on. Not a word about me asking you to watch over them now, eh? Let it be our little secret."

"My very first secret!" Jenny beamed, and since Wilf wouldn't let her help, she sat and watched him get tea ready.

* * *

"I still don't see why you took so long, Donna." The Doctor had his hands in his pockets as they walked back from the TARDIS to Donna's mum's house. "Sylvia could have come back at any time, and you know what she thinks about me. Plus, she has an ax."

"She wouldn't have done a thing to you, you prawn, you're not a burglar. Me she'd have reamed a new one for being gone with the car after she got back. Besides, trying on clothes takes a long time. Not to mention shoes, and it wasn't like I was going to skip lunch when we still had food to buy." Donna smirked at the Doctor, then continued. "I figured I could leave gadget-shopping to you, cos you wouldn't mind picking up doodads and whatsits."

"Hmph. She'd have nagged me, and you know it." His protest was only half-hearted, because he was already planning a trip to get Jenny enough odds and ends that she'd never have to use a gun again. And he'd teach her how to build a sonic screwdriver too.

"Yeah, she's good at that. But still, small price to pay for seeing Gramps again, innit?"

"Suppose so. I do like Wilf," The Doctor grinned and resumed course for the kitchen much more cheerily. "And he's put the kettle on - good timing!"

Donna rolled her eyes and followed the Doctor into the kitchen. Course, Gramps liked everyone, mostly, even strays his granddaughter brought home. Thank goodness for that - she didn't know what she'd do if Gramps _didn't_ like the Doctor...didn't bear thinking of. "Looks like you two are getting on. Oh, better grab another cup, Doctor, sounds like Mum's home."

* * *

They ended up staying for dinner at Sylvia's insistence. She claimed she'd not had enough time to get to know Jenny, so she was going to take advantage of it now. And thanks to that it was a relatively peaceful dinner, with very little nagging. Jenny, it seemed, could soothe even Sylvia into pleasant behaviour.

While Donna and Sylvia were doing the washing-up, and Wilf was settling down in front of the telly, Jenny looked at her dad and quietly asked, "Dad? D'you mind if I call Donna 'mum'?"

The Doctor nearly performed a spit-take of his tea, and once he was done sputtering he gave her a quizzical glance. "What brought that on?"

"Well, we were talking earlier about human families, and I realized that Donna was as close to a mum as I was going to get. She got you to accept me, and she named me, and she takes care of us. So, do you mind if I call her 'Mum'?"

"Oh." The Doctor was silent for a moment, trying to see if he -did- mind...and came to the conclusion that he didn't really mind at all. Donna was a better mum for Jenny than most anyone else he could think of. And it would keep her around longer, well, if thinking about Jenny's question didn't send Donna packing anyway. "I don't mind, but you should ask her if you could before you just start calling her Mum."

* * *

Over at the sink, Sylvia raised an eyebrow at the snatches of conversation, then glanced at her only daughter and murmured, "Thought you said there wasn't anything between you two?"

"There isn't," Donna murmured back just as softly. "We're just best friends."

"Hmmph. Well? Are you going to let her call you mum?"

"Don't see why not. She's a sweetheart and seems to want me for her mum." And quite possibly Jenny was the closest Donna would come to having a child, since she'd chosen travelling with the Doctor over a settled life.

"She is that. Think she'd mind the ramifications?"

"Doubt it, you and she get along nicely, and she loves Gramps."

"All right. I'll pack up the rest of the banana cake for you three, and you go get 'surprised'."

Donna smiled and gave her mum a peck on the cheek. "Thanks mum. For...well, everything today."

Sylvia sighed while she dried her hands. "I just want you to be happy, Donna. I'd prefer you were settled down with a good job, mind, but in the end...well, happiness is most important. And you are happy, more than I've seen you be in a long time."

"Yeah," Donna choked up a bit at the unexpected and open moment, then hugged her mum. "Love you, mum."

"And you. Now go on before Jenny wiggles off the chair waiting on you."

* * *

"There you are, Donna! Ready to go?" The Doctor was nearly as antsy as Jenny, but while she wanted to ask Donna an important question, the Doctor merely wanted to escape while Sylvia was still being nice.

"Not quite, so sit back down Spaceman. Mum's packing us some leftovers." Donna smiled at both of them and sat back down at the table, and couldn't hide a smirk as the Doctor sat on the edge of his chair, ready to bolt at the slightest opportunity.

"Um, Donna? Since we're going to be a few more minutes, can I ask you a question?" Jenny looked at her hands, nervously twining them together. What if Donna said no?

"Course you can, sweetheart. You can always ask."

"Will you...would you...could I call you mum?" Oh wonderful, now she was tripping over her own tongue. Only a day old, and already she knew what was meant by 'dying of embarassment'.

"Oh Jenny," Donna smiled and shifted over to pull Jenny into a hug. "I'd love it if you called me Mum."

"Wonderful!" Jenny hugged her mum - her mum! - back with the biggest, happiest smile on her face.

Sylvia chose that moment to return and drop a bag on the table. "If you're calling Donna mum, I expect you to call me Nan, young lady."

Jenny never noticed the shocked expression on her dad's face - she was too busy hugging her new Nan. "Really? Oh wow! Thank you so much Nan!"

"Aye aye, what's all this then?" Wilf had been attracted by the noise in the kitchen and had ambled in just in time to hear Jenny call Sylvia 'Nan'.

"Oh, it's fantastic! Donna said I could call her mum, and Nan said in that case I get to call her Nan...do I get to call you Great-Gramps now?" Jenny was poised anxiously, hoping Wilf would say yes so she could hug him too. She thought she might like hugging even more than running, especially with family.

"Course you can, sweetheart," He opened his arms with a warm smile. "C'mere and give your new great-granddad a hug."

While Jenny was gleefully hugging her new Great-Gramps, Sylvia was giving the Doctor a stern glare. "I expect you to take proper care of my daughter and new granddaughter. Don't go getting them into trouble."

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "It's more like Donna takes care of me, Sylvia, but I'll do my best. Which is better than most, if I say so myself."

"Hmmph," Sylvia snorted, but she softened just a teeny bit. "See that you do. And I expect regular visits from now on, no more of this unexpected dropping in, either."

"I'll see what I can do about that." Anything, he thought, that would keep Sylvia being nicer to Donna, and nice to Jenny. Well, almost anything. Probably not quite anything, but he'd do a lot if it meant Sylvia would finally stop nagging Donna all the time. And this would probably go down as the weirdest day he'd ever been a part of, he continued to himself as Sylvia(!) even hugged him goodbye before they left for the TARDIS, through the misty rain that was keeping Wilf from going up the hill.


	3. The Buzzing '20's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still isn't mine. At least I get to play with the Beeb's toys.
> 
> Author's Note: Chapter 3 is where I picked up my beta for this and other stories. Tkelparis helped immensely, not only with my grammar, but also ideas and watching the episode since my copy had run amok. Four times, plus deleted scenes, just to get the setting and action right - truly going above and beyond as a beta. *hugs!* She also described a bribe for a chocoholic...and wrote the story that was the inspiration that got me going on this. Shakespearean Cupids. 
> 
> Anyway, read, enjoy, comment if you feel like it. :)

* * *

"There, you see? You don't need the mallet if you have me and Mum helping." Jenny shot her Dad a smug look, then continued manipulating the controls of the two panels she'd been given charge of.

"Right hand all the way down, Jenny!" The Doctor exclaimed, then looked Donna's way to find her doing exactly what she ought to be. Except because Jenny had needed to be reminded what to do, he had to interject and get her to correct that little bobble. "Donna, twist that dial a quarter of the way 'round to the right."

Finished with impromptu corrections, the Doctor grinned at Jenny and Donna. "It is nice having help." He paused when one of his jury-rigs spat a spark, and hit it sharply with the heel of his hand. "Behave!"

"Daaad!" Jenny exclaimed in exasperation. "You're not supposed to hit the console anymore!"

"Jenny, at least he didn't use the mallet. Be glad for that." Donna laughed, then eyed the Doctor. "Now's when I slide this lever all the way left, yeah?"

"Absolutely! Jenny, two pumps!" The Doctor was enjoying this. Yes, he was having to deal with minor mishaps, but it was SO much easier with two people helping him and avoiding major ones! Holding TARDIS-piloting lessons wasn't as bad as he'd thought it'd be. Donna was doing _much_ better than the last time, probably because he'd explained it better now, and the old girl appreciated the extra help with the controls. Plus, this way he didn't have to worry about being a century off...well, except when he let the TARDIS pick the destination. Like this particular trip was one of her ideas...he'd asked for something easy for Jenny's first piloting lesson (as well as her first proper adventure), and trusted the TARDIS to deliver.

Jenny committed two pumps on what had once been a tyre-inflator, then flicked five switches. "Anything else?"

"Nope!" The TARDIS made the gentlest landing he'd felt in a long time, and hummed appreciatively at all of them. "And we're here! Good work, both of you!" He hugged both his girls (his girls? Since when was Donna his girl?), then grinned at them and stepped outside.

They followed, and both made suitably impressed noises at the lush English gardens they found themselves in. Jenny was just awed at seeing so much lush greenery in a more natural setting than the plants around the Source; Donna on the other hand, was impressed at the fact that this garden was used by a family, and still looked so magnificent. "Must cost a fortune in gardeners, though," she muttered.

Meanwhile, the Doctor took a deep breath and held it a moment before letting it out again. "Oh, smell that air! Grass and lemonade and a little bit of mint. Just a hint of mint, must be the 1920s."

Jenny eyed her Dad skeptically. "You can smell what year it is? Really? When will I learn how to do that?"

The Doctor would have said something, but Donna cut in with a bit of snark. "Well, maybe that vintage car coming up the drive gave it away instead." Curious, Donna edged closer to the drive to see if she could hear what was going on.

"Daaad. You cheated, didn't you? You just wanted to look impressive!" Jenny frowned at him, and missed Donna sneaking away.

"No...well not really. Yes the car helped, but if they're well-taken care of, those will last for decades - I had a similar but better one in the 70's...or was it the 80's? But there are only a few times in Earth history when you can take a deep breath and not smell the pollution of a heavily industrialized society and still have cars. And the 1920's are one of them."

"Oh. Yet another lesson I'll be getting later, huh?" Jenny asked, while they ambled to the side of the house to peek at what was going on.

"Mmm. Actually that's history lessons. Well mostly. Some biocontrol because your senses will be heavily involved-" He was interrupted by Donna, who'd found out why there were so many arrivals.

"Ooh, that's more like it. Never mind Planet Zog - a party in the 1920's is much more like it!"

"Donna, how many times do I have to say there is no such thing as Planet Zog? Well, not that I know of. Anyway, as for that party...the trouble is, we haven't been invited." He smirked and pulled out the psychic paper before Donna could pout at him. "Oh wait - look at that. Yes, we have."

"Brilliant!" Donna grabbed Jenny's hand and tugged her back to the TARDIS. "Come on - we have so got to change for this 'do!"

"But why, Mum? Won't the TARDIS keep them from noticing us?" Jenny was puzzled, but easily kept up, the pair of them leaving her dad ambling along behind with a bit of a smirk.

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that? Besides, there're some gorgeous dresses in the wardrobe that are just perfect for a party like this!" Donna hustled Jenny into the TARDIS, leaving her protest of "...no, not another dress..." to trail behind.

The Doctor raised a curious eyebrow - another dress? - but didn't follow them for fear that Donna would make him change too. He just left his long coat inside, closed the TARDIS door quietly, and stood outside to wait. And hope that Donna didn't decide to drag him back inside in the hopes of having him play dress-up too, because it would be hard to resist if she pulled that adorable pout...wait.

When did he start worrying about resisting Donna? It shouldn't be that much trouble just to say 'no', should it? But then there were her eyes, and the way she just fit in around the TARDIS...ah, that was it. He was wanting to make her want to stick around because she was the first companion to not try and make him be something he wasn't - she just accepted him as himself and didn't try to make him be human. He didn't know what he'd do anymore without his best mate, and keeping her happy with the little things was easy enough.

* * *

Jenny thought her dad was going to have to get some payback for abandoning her to an excited mum getting ready for a party in the 1920's. She'd expected another Impractical Dress, after the talk on the way to the wardrobe. But the bra...and the face paint? At least she'd managed to talk her mum into letting her skip the Impractical Shoes...these were just a little annoying in comparison to the torturous Wobbly Shoes.

"Muuuum, why do I have to wear this silly, flimsy little bra again? It's uncomfortable and it won't sit right."

"Cos your usual bra hasn't been invented yet, and I'm not sure even the TARDIS could manage to alter this dress so it wouldn't show." Donna was already dressed and was fixing her hair when she noticed Jenny trying to get the bra to stay put, without having fastened it first. "Come here sweetheart, let me adjust that for you."

"Thanks," Jenny walked over and let her mum adjust the pesky contraption, then pointed at another dress. "I don't know why I couldn't have worn that one - I could've stayed with the bra I had."

"Not the right time frame, and your sports-bra would've shown a bit anyway. Now let me zip you up." Once that was done, Donna fixed up Jenny's hair and applied just a touch of cosmetics. "There. You look lovely, sweetheart." Albeit younger than her physical age, but Donna rather thought that would come in handy. Especially when Jenny went about calling the Doctor 'Dad' in the 1920's - he looked just _barely_ old enough for an eighteen year old daughter, but a twenty-something was pushing it.

Jenny walked over to the full-length mirror and tilted her head at the reflection. "Great-Gramps was right - dresses are for making girls look pretty." Well, he'd actually said they made pretty girls look prettier, but it was close enough.

"Did he say that? Smart man, Gramps - learned some of it from my Nan, the rest is all him. So, not going to object the next time?" Donna smirked over her shoulder, then made one last adjustment to her own hair.

"Only if we're not expecting running. Too impractical otherwise. And you have to bribe me again, because something _itches_." Jenny pouted at her mum, then grinned. "At least it's got pockets - I can take my mobile with me and get a few pictures, since it's in silent mode. Won't that be fun to show to Nan and Great-Gramps?"

"First time they'll have seen us away from home - they'll love it. But your Nan will be too smug for words, since she insisted you have a mobile too." Donna laughed. "It won't be the same dessert all the time, love. It'd be boring, even though you do have a love of chocolate that equals your dad's for bananas." A last few accessories, and Donna and Jenny were on the way back to the Doctor.

"Really? How could chocolate-chocolate chip muffins with chocolate icing and more chocolate chips, chocolate ice cream, and chocolate and caramel sauce ever be boring?" Jenny asked, her eyebrows skeptically drawn together as they entered the Console Room from the hallway.

"Cos it's really boring to eat the same thing all the time. Otherwise your dad would manage to get away with banana pancakes every day for breakfast." Donna rolled her eyes when she heard the Doctor rapping on the door, exclaiming that they'd be late for cocktails. "Silly Spaceman."

Jenny opened the door and stepped out with a grin. "Here we are, Dad!"

Donna followed immediately after, and struck a pose against the closed door of the TARDIS. "What do you think, Doctor? Flapper, or slapper?"

"Flapper," he replied, beaming as he took Donna's arm and included Jenny as he continued. "You both look lovely." Jenny really _did_ look lovely he realized, and he was going to have to keep an eye on any unattached men at this party to make sure they didn't hurt his little girl. Oh, was he out of practice at being a Dad!

"Pictures for Nan and Great-Gramps!" Jenny whipped out her mobile and took a candid shot of her parents, including part of an eye-roll from Dad. Of course then there had to be a posed shot of them, one taken of her and dad, and then her and mum, but then she was allowed to put the mobile away, and they headed for the party.

* * *

Okay, there were two things Jenny wanted both to have and to learn how to use as soon as possible. The sonic screwdriver was a given, but now she also wanted her very own sheet of psychic paper. Lady Clemency Eddison still didn't remember dad, but she acted like he was a friend, all because it was pretending to be an invitation.

Jenny didn't like not being able to call Donna 'Mum' though, but since Donna had been introduced as herself and not as Dad's wife, she'd have to put up with it. 'My daughter, Miss Jenny Smith,' Dad had introduced her as, and the pride in his voice had just about countered her annoyance at Mum not being Mrs. Smith. While they were being introduced to Lady Eddison's husband and son, something had distracted her for a moment. There was an older man, with a faint resemblance to Dad, working at one of the tables. Very odd, that. But she wasn't sure it was relevant - she'd ask Dad later.

She wasn't sure what to think of Roger, Lady Eddison's son either - first he'd flirted with mum, then he'd turned his attention to her, with her dad _right there_. He was really bold about it, which was interesting...but more interesting were Dad's reactions. He'd pushed himself right into the conversation when Roger was flirting with Mum, and that was rude. But when Roger was flirting with her, Dad didn't interrupt, he was just very obvious about making his presence _known_ , mostly with glowering. Once she thought she'd caught a vaguely threatening gesture, but Mum had grabbed his arm and said something...she'd have to get him alone later and ask about it. Or Mum - she'd be more likely to tell her exactly what was going on anyway.

It was too much fun meeting people, even if they were a bit pushy. And the lime with soda was nice too - it let her have something to do other than play an idiot with not really knowing how to flirt while Roger was still at it. Yes, she'd flirted with Cline, but that was just to get out of a cell. This seemed more like a game that she didn't know the rules for, and it made her uncomfortable. More things to learn about human interactions, she supposed.

She managed to get away from him without offense, and make her way back to her parents' side when the other guests started arriving. She wasn't sure what to think of Robina Redmond - something about her seemed deceptive - and she pulled her dad away, after meeting Reverend Golightly, for a question.

"Dad, what's a reverend?" Jenny whispered.

"Reverend is a title of respect," he replied. "He's a priest - hereabouts known as a vicar - and leads religious services. He and others like him in this era generally try to teach peace and fellowship and forgiveness and love of one's fellow man, but the religion itself has had a long and bloody history, which sometimes spills over into the sermons...it's complicated, and I'll explain more later, when the party's over."

What followed that brief explanation (that had left her still confused but about other things) was really interesting, and had her looking at her parents in a whole new light. The others had been talking about some idiots who'd broken into the church, and Roger had mentioned something about a thrashing, and the cute young waiter had agreed with him...and then Mum had said something about all the decent blokes being on the other bus. Then the interesting thing happened - Dad had given Mum a _look_ when he'd said, 'Or Time Lords', and what had happened to his voice? It was all low and husky - like he was feeling something really intensely, and it let itself out in his voice. Did that mean that maybe, maybe Dad was interested in Mum as something more than a friend? She'd have to talk to Nan or Great-Gramps later about that - she didn't think either of her parents would give her a straight answer. Parents were really confusing.

But apparently not to Agatha Christie - and she needed to ask Mum or Dad who she was, reallyreally soon. She'd let them gush at her in admiration, pegged them as a couple ('a couple of what?', Jenny had wanted to ask), pointed out the reason that no one with half a brain would think they were married (and what did rings have to do with being married? So many questions!), and made an intriguing comment that had gotten Mum looking at Dad speculatively. Like this was the first time she'd really looked at him. But she supposed that she'd look at someone speculatively too, if she'd just been told that 'the thrill is in the chase, never in the capture'. Maybe Mum was just wondering if Dad was going to chase her?

They'd all stepped aside when Dad had borrowed the Colonel's newspaper, and Dad had gotten very interested when he'd seen the date. Of course he immediately told them why - it was the date Agatha Christie disappeared.

"She just discovered her husband was having an affair." her dad continued.

"You'd never think to look at her smiling away." Her mum had looked so concerned, and had flashed a troubled look at Agatha. So compassionate - Jenny could only hope to develop half the compassion her mum had.

"Well, she's British and moneyed. That's what they do—they carry on. Except for this one time. No one knows exactly what happened—she just vanished." Jenny had to interrupt her dad's explanation at that point to ask a question.

"Dad, what's being British and having money got to do with just carrying on? Shouldn't she be horribly upset that her husband was having an affair? And I know now that she's a writer, but really, who is Agatha Christie?"

"It's a pride thing, Jenny. Stiff upper lip, never let them see they got you down," her dad had replied.

Which had made her ask another question immediately, before getting the one about Mrs Christie answered. "Kind of like you, a little, isn't it?"

"Uhm. Well...ah, um..." Her dad really didn't look comfortable with the comparison, but her mum had interrupted before she could apologize.

" _Just_ like him quite often, Jenny. And don't let him tell you otherwise. And yes, Agatha Christie is a writer of murder mysteries. Fantastic writer, absolutely brilliant - I'm sure her books are in the TARDIS library. If they aren't, ask me - I brought lots."

Which meant more things to do, but if both her parents were that enthusiastic about meeting an author, it meant she was really good. And as for finding out what Agatha was like...well, they were here and they'd met. And maybe she could talk to her later.

" _May_ I continue, ladies? Thank you." Her dad eyed both of them, and waited a moment to make sure no one was going to interrupt, then continued his explanation. "Her car will be found tomorrow morning by the side of a lake. Ten days later she turns up at a hotel in Harrogate. Said she'd lost her memory. She never spoke about the disappearance till the day she died. But whatever it was…"

"It's about to happen," mother and daughter responded in unison.

"Right here, right now," her dad nodded in agreement. Jenny probably would have asked another question or three, but just then the housekeeper charged back out to the party, shouting.

"The professor! The library! Murder! Murder!" And that sent Mum and Dad running, with herself and Agatha Christie trailing just behind. Oooh, this was going to be interesting! A mystery writer, and a murder on the premises! Well, it was sad about the professor being killed, but at the same time it was an adventure! And here Dad had muttered something about a nice peaceful trip...after Messaline, which she couldn't really complain about, and now this happening, she was starting to wonder if it was possible for her Dad to _ever_ have a peaceful trip.

* * *

The Doctor had taken over the moment he rushed into the library to the dead man's side, talking out loud as he examined the body. "Bashed on the back of the head. Blunt instrument." He tapped the man's watch to ensure that it was indeed broken. "Watch broke as he fell, time of death was quarter past four."

Donna had been looking around the room, and spoke up as he rose to look over the papers on the desk. "Bit of pipe. Call me Hercule Poirot, but I reckon that's blunt enough."

Jenny joined Donna over by the pipe, and asked softly, "Who is Hercule Poirot?"

"He's a detective in some of Agatha's novels. Brilliant bloke, draws conclusions from the teeniest scraps of evidence sometimes. Like your dad a teensy bit, only Belgian. And fictional. And not as cute." Donna replied somewhat absently, now frowning at the dead Professor and completely missing Jenny's big-eyed stare.

With Jenny and Donna occupied, no one but the Doctor noticed that Agatha had pulled a bit of paper from the fireplace. He'd talk to her later about it, meanwhile he had papers to examine. Which he ceased shortly thereafter. "Nothing worth killing for in that lot, dry as dust."

Donna and Jenny joined him at the desk, and Donna murmured to him, "Hold on, the body in the library? I mean, Professor Peach, in the library, with a lead piping?"

He'd have replied, but just then everyone else came charging in, and someone had to take control of the situation. And Agatha gave him the perfect opportunity in stating that someone ought to call the police. "You don't have to," he said, flashing the psychic paper again. "Chief Inspector Smith from Scotland Yard, known as the Doctor. Miss Noble and Miss Smith are the plucky young girls who help me out."

He could practically hear Jenny's eyeroll, and he did hear almost all of her mental complaining - _...honestly Dad, did you have to do that? Can't I just be your daughter, and Mum helps both of us?_ To which he _had_ to reply, _Yes, but don't you want a part in investigating this mystery?_ But he was having fun - it was a murder mystery with Agatha Christie, and he just couldn't resist the chance to play a part, could he? Absolutely not, which is why he continued even after Donna rolled _her_ eyes too. "Mrs. Christie was right. Go into the sitting room. I will question each of you in turn."

Agatha kindly shepherded everyone else out, saying "Come along. Do as the Doctor says. Keep the room undisturbed." And now he could really get into investigating!

Except for Donna and Jenny, who still looked disgruntled, and simultaneously asked. "The plucky young girls who help me out?"

He gave them a startled look for their synchronous question, and replied as he dropped to the floor to look for clues. "There were no policewomen in 1926. Had to come up with something so you could both stick with me."

"I'll pluck you in a minute," Donna snorted, while Jenny was peering at something he'd just noticed. "Why don't we phone the real police?"

"The last thing we need is PC Plod sticking his nose in," he answered, scraping up with a hooked tool the something he and his daughter had noticed, from where it was stuck in a crack in the floorboards. "Especially not when I've just found morphic residue." He jumped to his feet, between his girls, and showed it to both of them.

"That doesn't sound like this time frame, Dad," Jenny commented, peering at the goo on the end of the hook. "Sounds alien, in fact."

"It is," he beamed at his daughter. "It gets left behind when certain species genetically re-encode."

"So, that means the murderer's an alien?" Donna asked, but not leaning in to look at the residue.

"Not necessarily. It does, however, mean that one of that lot is an alien in human form."

"Yeah," Donna said. "But think about it. There's a murder, a mystery, and Agatha Christie."

"And? Happens to me a lot."

Donna snorted. "So? Why doesn't she know you, then?"

"Donna! I meant in general, not specifically Agatha Christie." He sniffed the morphic residue, then held it out to Donna - who cringed - and Jenny, who frowned curiously at him and the residue.

"Why'd you sniff it, Dad?"

"Helps to know it's smell," he replied. "Sometimes you can identify which species it is just by the scent of the morphic residue. Not in this case though, but have a sniff. It won't bite."

Jenny cautiously leaned forward and sniffed it, but Donna turned her nose up.

"Watch out, sweetheart. Next thing he usually does is taste it." Donna smirked at the 'eww' and the face Jenny made, then went back to the subject that was still bothering her a bit. "No, but isn't that a bit weird? Agatha Christie didn't walk around surrounded by murders. Not really." The Doctor tasted the morphic residue, and Jenny looked completely appalled, which got a smirk from Donna, who hid her own disgust with continuing to badger the Doctor. "That's like meeting Charles Dickens and he's surrounded by ghosts. At Christmas."

Donna was apparently having a problem with weird things happening around authors, and he briefly wished she'd been along with him instead of Rose, so she could have seen Dickens. And the ghosts. "Well..." was all he could manage though, as he didn't want Donna to feel as badly as Martha did whenever he'd mention Rose. And he didn't want her to think he was still moping about losing her, either. Who knew what she'd do then, other than it would be sympathetic.

"Oh come on," she exclaimed. "It's not like we could drive across country and find Enid Blyton having tea with Noddy. Could we? Noddy's not real, is he? Tell me there's no Noddy."

"Who's Noddy?" Jenny asked, at the same time he said "There is no Noddy." He ignored Donna telling Jenny she'd learn about Noddy later in favour of moving out of the library and into the hall. Where they ran into Agatha again, and had a slight bobble with Donna not remembering that Murder on the Orient Express hadn't been written in 1926.

Since it was an adventure of a sort, and he and Donna were both experienced, he decided it was safe enough to split them up. He would question suspects with Agatha, and learn from a genius for future use, and Donna and Jenny could search the bedrooms for clues. Unfortunately, neither one of them were impressed with his large magnifying glass, even after he stressed again that 'plucky' was truly complimentary. He only caught a bit of a whisper about it though, as they went upstairs. "...is this actually supposed to help?" Ah, Jenny, so much yet to learn, he thought, shaking his head with a smile.

And Agatha wasn't impressed with his enthusiasm, either. Good thing Donna and Jenny were already gone - it meant he was the only one who had to be embarrassed by Agatha's mistaking his enthusiasm for solving the case with enjoyment of disaster. Which this wasn't, yet. And they were actually both interested in justice, despite what she thought, so they'd get along once she got used to him.

The result of the interviews was interesting but not totally unexpected; all the suspects had no alibi. No one to eliminate another from suspicion. Which left them at square one, again, except for discussing the clue that Agatha had pulled from the fireplace. Not like the word 'maiden' was a large clue. No, they'd have to hope that Donna and Jenny had found something...

 


	4. That's a really big bug

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: A lot of work was put in by tkelparis to keep this from sucking like an Electrolux...but somehow neither of us noticed that the chapters for TUatW managed to be really huge. Oops. Well, I won't do that again.
> 
> Read, enjoy etc

* * *

Reverend Golightly hadn't anything but more of those uniform-like outfits, and there wasn't anything under his bed, so Jenny took the moment to ask. "I know it's a lovely house, Mum, but why would anyone ever want one so big? It's not practical, and it's got to be harder to keep up with than Nan's."

Donna came up from feeling under the mattress and smiled at her adopted daughter. "Well, mostly in any era, it's either titled people like Lady Eddison who have huge houses from inheritance, or starting a couple decades ago, it's rich people buying the old houses from titled people who've run out of money. When you're titled, or famous, or rich, you tend to throw a lot of parties, though they're generally more peaceful than this one. A lot of rooms means a lot of people you can have over to impress. 'Course, big house means hiring people to take care of it all, which takes money too. Gardener or two, maids, footmen, cooks."

"So what does it mean that I saw someone working here who looked like an older version of Dad? He was serving at one of the tables when we arrived for cocktails."

Donna blinked at that, and paused a minute in recollection, then shrugged. "Probably not a thing, sweetheart. Being a Time Lord, your Dad's had ten faces by now. And it's rare, but not unusual for people to have lookalikes."

"Huh," she said, thinking. And her thoughts left her Dad's aged lookalike to return to the reasons someone would want a house so big, "So, it's a subtle power play? Having a house this big and immaculate?" Jenny still didn't understand why anyone would want a house this big, but she was trying.

"Something like that, yeah." Donna smiled at Jenny, decided she'd explain the nuances later, then gestured to the door. "Nothing here, let's try Miss Redmond's room."

Jenny came out of the bathroom in Miss Redmond's room with a snort of disgust, then knelt to look under the bed one last time. "Dammit," she muttered. "I thought for sure we'd find something here."

"Don't say 'dammit' in front of your Nan. Or anything more creative you may pick up from your dad. And why would you think there'd be something here?" Donna replied while neatening up the luggage she'd just gone through.

"Because there's something deceptive about her, Mum. She's hiding something, and I don't know what!" She roughly ran her hand under the mattress, trying to find anything that would prove her point. Redmond was _trouble_! She just KNEW it!

"Well, I don't think she's after Roger's title and money. Not unless she's willing to put in a load of work, cos I'm nearly certain he's not interested in girls." They left Redmond's room, and went on to the next, sending Roger down to be interrogated.

Which, Jenny thought, was the perfect chance to get some questions about _him_ answered. "Mum? Is that what you meant, earlier, when you said 'all the decent men are on the other bus', while looking at Roger?"

"You didn't see the way Roger was looking at that young footman, did you? Roger and he are _together_ together, like you thought your Dad and I were. 'On the other bus' is slang for a same sex relationship."

"But he was flirting with me...oh." A look of dawning understanding lit Jenny's face. "Oh! So that's why it felt like the flirting was a game with rules I didn't know! Because he was trying to pretend and he really wasn't interested!"

"Something like that, yeah, although flirting is a game in itself. I think he was using you to throw suspicion about his, um... _activities_ off, cos same-sex relationships...well, they're not treated well in this time." Donna snorted, softly, and continued. "I doubt it worked, but it was harmless enough. I don't think your Dad realized it was pretty fake, though."

"He was glowering a lot. And what was that when you were talking to him? Were you keeping him from interfering?" Jenny frowned and shook her head. "It's like he doesn't trust me."

"It's not that, sweetheart. He trusts you fine - it's Roger he didn't trust." Donna smiled and patted Jenny's shoulder. "He's just suddenly realized he's the father of a pretty girl, and wants to make sure no one hurts you."

"That's a bit silly though. I mean, I can take care of myself, physically - better than either of you, really. And I'm only going to learn anything about emotions and stuff if I make mistakes, right?"

"Yeah, but it's a parent thing." Donna sighed and leaned on the wall. "He lost his entire family in that horrible war, and now he got you, lost you, and got you back by lucky chance all in the same day, and he...well, he's gonna be a bit clingy and overprotective for a while until he gets used to you really being able to take care of yourself." She continued with a wry smile. "I'll likely be the same, even though we're not related. You'll just probably have a longer leash with me, cos I've been the protected daughter and I still remember how annoying it was."

"Family is so _weird_ ," Jenny pouted. But she couldn't stay annoyed, and beamed at Mum before hugging her. "I wouldn't trade any of you for anything though."

"We wouldn't either, love." Donna smiled, hugging her back.

"Even if I ask what was all that interference from Dad was about when Roger was trying to flirt with you?" Jenny smiled impishly, and made a note to talk to Nan about Mum's look of shocked surprise - and _why_ that look was there in the first place.

A few minutes later - after Donna unsuccessfully tried to explain that it was all because they were friends and the Doctor was just trying to protect her from falling for someone in the wrong time frame - Donna bossed the butler into unlocking a room that had been sealed for forty years. She and Jenny were investigating it, and Donna was glad of the distraction. Not that there was much of anything but dust in it, but still, it was worlds better than her adopted daughter teasing her about the Doctor. Mind, now that she'd gotten used to the skinny weasel, she could see why so many girls threw themselves at him, and he was pretty amazing, but still...anyway, room to investigate. Thinking _those_ kind of thoughts about her best mate could wait.

Jenny had been poking around the bathroom again for anything left behind, and popped back out to ask a question - though not a Dad-related one. This time. "Mum, it's weird that a room would be shut off for forty years because someone recovered from malaria in it, isn't it? I mean, it's not like malaria can just jump out and infect someone decades later, right? So why is this room shut off?"

"I'm not sure, Jenny. But there's not a clue to explain it - nothing in here but old nightclothes and this old teddy."

"What's a teddy? And what's it for?" Jenny asked, now standing by the bed and peering at the oddly shaped thing her mother was holding. She took it, curiously, and blinked at how soft it was inside under the stiffness of age.

"It's for children and young adults to sleep with, a cuddle toy. Although it is odd that a teddy would get left behind, unless it really was malaria. Though I think everything disposable in here would have been burned, in that case. Or taken out for storage, like the pictures that used to be in here - see the marks on the walls? Used to be pictures hanging there...I wonder why they got moved?"

Donna frowned at the buzzing she heard. "There's a bee in here somewhere, from the sound of it...there're still bees in 1926 anyway. But that can't be right, not if this room was sealed off for forty years. Maybe there's a crack in the window?"

"Mum, what's a bee? And why are you surprised that there are bees now?" Jenny asked, before her mum could really start hunting for the buzzing object.

"Bees are small insects, about so big," she gestured with thumb and forefinger the average size of a bee. "They eat the nectar produced by flowers and as they go from flower to flower, they get pollen attached - how plants reproduce - and as they flit about, they pollinate the flowers." Donna shook her head and laughed, while still trying to determine where the bee was. "When I met your dad the first time, he terrified me, so I said 'no' when he asked me to go with him. Biggest mistake of my life, I figured that out the next day. But while I was looking to find him again, there were all these articles about bees disappearing, and it stuck in my mind."

"Okay, I think I understand bees now. But are they supposed to buzz so loudly? I mean, you said they were small..." Jenny decided to help her mum look, because she wanted to see in person how such a small insect could make such a big noise.

The bee really did seem to be buzzing louder, so Donna pulled out the absurd magnifying glass the Doctor had left them with. "Oh, what a noise! All right, busy bee, I'll let you out. Hold on." She moved to open the drapes, and added a funny accent, mostly for Jenny's amusement. "I shall find you with my amazing powers of detection."

Of course, when she opened the drapes to reveal a huge wasp outside, all fun and games went out the window. So to speak. She and Jenny both screamed in surprise and horrified shock and dodged the wasp when it shattered the window and dove in the room. Which left them at the window, and the wasp blocking their escape through the door. Donna shouted for the Doctor, while Jenny got between her mum and the wasp. Donna waved her hands at the wasp to try and shoo it away, then remembered the magnifying glass she still held - and used it to concentrate the sunlight on the wasp. It screeched in pain and flew aside, and Donna ran for the door, shoving Jenny ahead of her, then slammed the door behind.

"Doctor!" she shouted again, and shrieked when the stinger of the giant wasp stabbed through the door and got stuck. Jenny jumped back and nearly stumbled into the wall behind her, staring wide-eyed at the stinger. The Doctor (and Agatha, but Donna was most relieved to see the scrawny Spaceman) dashed up just in time for her to gasp, "There's a giant wasp!"

"What do you mean, a giant wasp?" The Doctor asked as he skidded to a halt from running, and gave them both a visual once-over.

"I mean, a wasp that's _giant_!" Donna huffed and glowered at the Doctor for eying her up, then rested her hand on Jenny's shoulder, to make sure her adopted daughter was all right, since she still hadn't stopped staring at the sting.

"It's only a silly little insect," Agatha tried to laugh it off.

"When I say 'giant', I don't mean big," Donna huffed, annoyed at the pair of them. "I mean, _flipping enormous_!"

"Really and truly, it was huge!" Jenny confirmed. "That's its sting," she said and pointed at, yes, the giant wasp sting stabbed through the door.

The Doctor and Agatha looked, and stared in shock. His shock altered to fascinated curiosity, then he exclaimed, "Let me see!" Donna rolled her eyes when the Doctor barged though the door, then Agatha followed. Honestly, stinger bigger than her arm, and he wants to see the wasp face to face? "It's gone. Buzzed off." And blimey if he didn't sound disappointed about that! She was going to have to have words with him later, about setting less reckless examples for Jenny to follow. Meanwhile, it was safe enough to go back in, so she and Jenny did.

Meanwhile, Agatha was staring at the broken stinger, fascinated. She had to say so though. Which brought the Doctor over to be all pushy and gather up a sample of the goo inside the stinger himself. As if any of them would want to touch it. Seriously, ew! Although from the looks of it, Jenny might be following in her dad's footsteps there...at least she still thought tasting weird things was gross.

"Giant wasp… Well, there are tons of amorphous insectivorous lifeforms but…none in this galactic vector." the Doctor said as he stood again.

"I think I understood some of those words. Enough to know that you're completely potty." Go Agatha! Too bad the Doctor's right on that one though, Donna thought. There just weren't enough people in the universe who'd call him potty when he needed it.

"Lost its sting, though. That makes it defenseless." Or so Donna hoped. Pity it just had to be a giant alien wasp and not a regular old bee made huge.

"A creature this size? Gotta be able to grow a new one." The Doctor commented.

Jenny sighed and muttered, "You just had to make everything 'better', didn't you? As if it wasn't startling enough, now it can re-arm itself." She was beginning to wish that she'd been able to fit some sort of weapon in her pocket along with the mobile. But then they hadn't been expecting a giant alien wasp at a 1926 Earth party, had they?

"Uh, can we return to sanity?" Agatha Christie was looking at all of them like they were a bit potty now. "There are no such things as giant wasps."

"Exactly! So…The question is, what's it doing here?" And the Doctor was off again, leaving the three of them to trail behind. And Donna to wish she'd imitated Jenny and worn flats. Especially when there was a scream - running downstairs in heels was horrible and made her feel like she was going to pitch forward and take a tumble at any moment. At least she didn't have to wear stilettos to fit in during the 1920's - she'd have fallen already if that was the case!

The housekeeper had somehow gotten crushed by a gargoyle, and only managed to say a few words before she died. They couldn't even show the poor woman any respect, because that wasp was back, right up where the gargoyle used to be. So off and running they went back inside, chasing something that could kill them with it's stinger.

"Well, this makes a change," Donna said as they ran upstairs in pursuit, not thinking about her shoes now, not during hot pursuit. "There's a monster, and we're chasing it."

"Can't be a monster. It's a trick," Agatha replied. "They do it with mirrors."

"Really?" Jenny asked, from just behind her dad. "Isn't that kind of hard to do, with us chasing it?"

They reached the top of the stairs before Agatha could reply, and there was the giant wasp again. Agatha murmured "By all that's holy" and the Doctor, cheeky sod, marveled aloud before attempting to caution it. It rushed them, and they ducked, and Jenny wondered if Agatha would still think it was done with mirrors after she felt the wind of its passing.

"Oi, fly boy!" Donna shouted, and held up the magnifying glass again to ward it off, which made it hesitate, then it flew away fast before it could get burned again.

"Don't let it get away!" The Doctor shouted. "Quick, before it reverts to human form!" He ran off after it, the three ladies following until they reached the hall the bedrooms were on. The Doctor called out, "Where are you? Come on! There's nowhere to run—Show yourself!" And then groaned in disappointment when the doors opened and everyone looked out to stare at him...rather like he was potty. "Oh, that's just cheating," he muttered and turned away, taking Donna, Jenny and Agatha with him.

* * *

In the sitting room with everyone else, Jenny's eyebrows knit in thought as she listened to the conversation around her. It seemed logical to her that the housekeeper had been killed to keep her from telling Lady Eddison something. But what? And what did 'the poor little child' mean? It was a mystery, but she had the feeling it was a clue that Hercule Poirot would pick up on, and, if Mum was right about Dad and Poirot, he already had. And, since Agatha created him, maybe she could ask her...

The Colonel, for all of Roger's flirting with her, was apparently aware of his son's taste, and was rude enough to comment on it, but from there the conversation had turned to how very like one of Agatha's mysteries it was. Which was something else that was curious - surely a murderer, giant alien wasp or not, could come up with his or her own methods, and not steal the ideas of a writer. Unless that was a clue in itself?

Agatha declaimed any ability to solve the events that were occurring, and deferred to her dad. He didn't look pleased with the pressure, and did his best to convince her that he still wanted her aid, since she was the best. He and Agatha went around like that for a few minutes before the meeting broke up, and everyone split off. Mum went with Agatha, and hopefully she'd be able to rebuild the author's confidence.

Meanwhile, Jenny went with her father to investigate the goo he'd scooped from the stinger. Her mum could do just fine to cheer poor Mrs Christie up...meanwhile, there were science lessons to be had! And shoes to be removed to find out just what was pinching her toes!

* * *

"...so you see, I put our samples in here, where they're broken down into their constituent doo-dahs, and then run that information through the database," the Doctor said, then, catching motion out of the corner of his eye, looked down at Jenny's bare feet as her toes stopped wiggling. "Ah, you appear to be shoeless - is something wrong?"

"No, I'm fine, it's just they were pinching. I'll put them back on later," Jenny said, pleased to be free of the annoying shoes, if only for a moment. "So, once it's all broken down, and fed through the database, then you find out what it is and where it's from?"

"Yup!" He said, popping the 'p' as usual. "And here we go, results!"

Jenny came up beside her dad and peered at the screen. "So, um, what do the squiggles and swirls and circles mean?"

The Doctor palmed his face, then gave his daughter an apologetic smile as he ran that hand through his hair. "Oh, blimey, another lesson for you. The screens default to Gallifreyan, sorry. But what we have here - well, out there - is a Vespiform. They've got hives in the Silifax Galaxy."

"And...they're not all like this, right? They don't go around attacking or killing without good reason?"

"No, no they're not. Generally nice people. Well, insects...well, people who are insects. But they only kill in self defense, which makes this one as much a mystery as the reason this is all coming out like one of Agatha Christie's novels." The Doctor rubbed his chin in thought, then shrugged. It would come to him, hopefully sooner rather than later. "Aaanyway, it's time to go collect your mum and Mrs Christie. Shoes on, and allons-y!"

* * *

Outside, Agatha stared at the handy, portable police hut that the Doctor and his daughter had vanished into, then stalked away, managing somehow to not notice Donna following her, and voiced her frustrated thoughts aloud. "And I'm useless. The man holds all the power yet again."

At the gazebo, she sat, and only then noticed that Miss Noble had followed her. So she took the chance to ask about that police hut, even though it frustrated her no end. "I still don't understand how, even though they are both slim, the Doctor and Miss Smith could fit inside that tiny box comfortably, much less have a chemistry set inside."

"Sorry, he's a bit possessive over that. But he does come up with the most amazing results. Donna replied, then decided to change the subject before Agatha could get her to promise a peek inside. "But leaving aside the totally unrelated mystery of the comfort level of the Doctor's blue box, do you know what I think? Those books of yours, one day they could turn them into films. They could be talking pictures."

"Talking pictures? Pictures that…talk? What do you mean?" Agatha gave Donna a quizzical look, trying to understand the concepts this odd but likable woman kept bringing up.

"Oh blimey, I've done it again." Donna wanted to palm her face from embarrassment, but refrained - she'd look even pottier if she did that. And she'd have to keep that in her vocabulary: Thanks to Agatha Christie, she had yet another way to describe how crazy her Spaceman was.

"I appreciate you trying to be kind, but you're right—these murders are like my own creations. It's as though someone's mocking me. I've had enough scorn for one lifetime." Agatha looked at her hands and sighed.

Donna gave her a sympathetic look. "Yeah. Thing is, I had this bloke once, I was engaged, and I loved him, I really did. Turns out he was lying through his teeth. But you know what? I moved on. I was lucky—I found the Doctor. It changed my life. There's always someone else."

"I see." was the tense reply. "Is my marriage the stuff of gossip now?"

Donna looked at her lap, and shook her head. "No, I just—Sorry."

Agatha sighed and shook her head. "No matter. The stories are true. I found my husband with another woman. A younger, prettier woman. Isn't that always the way?"

Donna looked up and caught a glimpse of Jenny approaching, then smiled wryly at Agatha. "Well, mine was with a giant spider but same difference."

Jenny had gotten close enough by this point to hear Mum commenting about a former man of hers (with a giant spider of all things!) and sneaked a picture of Mum and Agatha, then wondered if that was part of how her parents met. She'd ask later, and she was sure there'd be something weird about it, because she already knew her Dad just didn't do normal!

Agatha laughed. "You and the Doctor and Miss Smith talk such wonderful nonsense."

Donna, trying to encourage Agatha again, said, "Agatha, people love your books, they really do. They're gonna be reading them for years to come."

"If only. Try as I might, it's hardly great literature. That's beyond me. I'm afraid my books will be forgotten, like ephemera." Agatha smiled wryly at Donna, then shook her head. And frowned at the flowerbed. "Hello. What's that?" She got up, Donna following and Jenny joining the two of them, and walked that way continuing her thought. "Those flowerbeds were perfectly neat earlier. Now some of the stalks are bent over." She picked up a small leather box, and turned to see Jenny's bright smile and Donna's admiration.

"There you go," Donna said, smiling as well. "Who'd ever notice that? You're brilliant."

"Absolutely!" Jenny chimed in. "And good timing, too, as Dad sent me to collect the pair of you so we can pool what we've discovered." And there was something about that flowerbed that was nagging her...well, sitting down and thinking would probably help with that.

* * *

They caught up with the Doctor, alone in the sitting room, and told him about Agatha's prize and where it had been found. He set the leather box on the table, opened it, and his eyebrows went up at the contents. "Ooh…someone came tooled up…the sort of stuff a thief would use."

"The Unicorn—he's here!" Agatha exclaimed.

"The Unicorn and the wasp," the Doctor replied.

"The Unicorn is a thief. The thief tossed the box away to not be caught. The box was under a bedroom window...if I picture it in my mind, looking down from upstairs...hah! I knew there was something up with Miss Redmond!" Jenny bounced on her seat in celebration. "Miss Redmond is the Unicorn, as the tools were found under her bedroom window!"

"Now Jenny, just because you think she's deceptive doesn't mean-" Donna started, but was interrupted by Agatha.

"No, Miss Smith may be quite right. Indeed, there was something Miss Redmond said when we questioned her that wasn't quite right. Although," Agatha frowned in thought. "Someone may have got into her room to toss the box, although that would require collusion from someone in the household."

"But the least complicated explanation is mine," Jenny said, then conceded Agatha's point. "Still, Miss Redmond should be questioned further, right?"

"Indeed," Agatha agreed, and tucked the tool box out of sight as one of the servants came in with a tray with drinks for all of them. The Doctor stood from where he'd been kneeling and took his drink from the man. After the servant left, the Doctor sat in a chair and slouched as they got down to talking about the alien wasp.

"What about the science stuff, what did you two find?" Donna asked.

Jenny bounced, just slightly, when Dad gave her the nod to go ahead and share, and pulled out the vial of goo they'd collected earlier. "It's a Vespiform, they're from the Silifax Galaxy - it's where their hives are."

And now it was Jenny's turn for what might become a patented 'you're potty' look from Agatha. "Again, you talk like Edward Lear."

The Doctor was pondering the same thing he'd been pondering since he taught Jenny how to run some of the simpler analyses. "For some reason, this one's behaving like a character in one of your books, Agatha." He sipped from his glass again and set it aside.

Donna tried to encourage more thought from the mystery writer. "Come on, Agatha. What would Miss Marple do? She'd've overheard something vital by now because the murderer thinks she's just a harmless old lady."

"Clever idea. Miss Marple—who writes those?" Agatha asked, an eyebrow raised as she put down her drink.

"Um," Donna put her drink down. "copyright: Donna Noble. Add it to the list." she added somewhat sheepishly. Well, it wasn't as though she could remember the publishing date of every Christie novel, right? And apparently Jenny thought her mistake was funny - or else she was quietly choking - her shoulders were shaking.

"Donna." The Doctor said, his voice suddenly tense, though his position hadn't changed.

Jenny set her boring little soda aside and stuffed the vial back in her pocket. Her dad didn't sound good, and he'd got all pale and sick looking suddenly.

"OK, we could split the copyright." Donna added - just like him to start telling her off for teasing.

"No—something's inhibiting my enzymes." He jerked forward, almost folding in half. "Aaahh!"

"Dad! What's wrong?" Jenny just barely beat Donna to her dad, and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"I've been poisoned!" He gasped and convulsed, almost pulling free of his daughter's grip.

"What do we do? What do we do?" Donna was frantically asking, unable to believe that she was going to lose her Spaceman to something so stupid as poison. In a murder mystery. With _Agatha Christie_ , for crying out loud!

"Bitter almonds—it's cyanide. Sparkling cyanide!" Agatha gasped, after having sniffed the Doctor's glass.

On hearing this, the Doctor pulled himself out of his chair, with a little help from Jenny, and ran, staggering, for the kitchen. Jenny was hot on his heels, being sensible and wearing flats, and Donna and Agatha weren't more than a few seconds behind, though struggling to catch up.

The moment he staggered in the door, the Doctor grabbed one of the men, and gasped out, "Ginger beer! I need ginger beer!" He let the fellow go when he proved of no help, and ran to the shelves where he found a bottle.

Agatha and Donna arrived just in time to see him rifling through the bottles and grab one, then pour some of the liquid in his mouth, then empty the rest over his head.

"I'm an expert in poisons, Doctor. It's fatal! There's no cure!" Agatha regretted that fact, for once, because this wasn't a book of hers. And the victim was a perfectly lovely, if potty, man.

The Doctor spat out the remains of his mouthful of ginger beer and gripped the table to hold himself up. "Not for me! I can stimulate the inhibited enzymes into reversal. Protein! I need protein!"

Jenny tucked herself by her dad, to hold him up if he needed it, just as Donna found a bag of "Walnuts!"

"Brilliant!" he shouted, and shoved a handful in his mouth. He mumbled around the nuts, then his daughter touched his mind with hers.

_Dad, it was already hard to understand you, and it'll be harder yet with the nuts in your mouth. Tell me this way what you need, then I can tell them what you need next._

_Aww, you're brilliant Jenny! I need something salty, but not salt, that's too salty._

_Okay, I'll tell 'em._

He was still chewing away at the walnuts when Jenny pulled her attention back to talking with her voice and not her mind. "He needs something salty now, but not salt-that's too salty."

Donna rolled her eyes and muttered something about a teaspoon, but Agatha came up with a jar that stank something awful to Jenny when it was opened. She watched him down the contents with fascinated disgust, barely listening as Agatha told Mum that was a jar of anchovies. They smelled disgusting, oh ew, ick! Anchovies were worse than Dad licking the morphic residue! And he ate them!

Speaking of... _Dad? Is there anything else you need, now that you've had gross fishies?_

_Anchovies are nice...usually on a pizza...yes, yes, I need a shock._ _**Big** _ _shock._

She tried to keep Dad from feeling her panic, but she was really about ready to tear her hair out from frustration and, yep, panic. "Shock. He needs a _big_ shock...how are we supposed to get him a shock down here?"

Mum looked like she was bracing herself, which Jenny didn't understand. "All right, then," Mum reached for Dad "big shock" she hauled him upright "coming up." She then grabbed his head and...oh, that's why she was bracing herself! She was kissing Dad, and he'd just eaten icky fishies! Pretty long kiss for him having gross fish breath too...five seconds of back and forth before Mum let him go. She was impressed at their staying power, considering the fish. Yech.

He staggered back a few steps, then threw his head back and expelled a cloud of black smoke. "Ah! Detox!" He wiped his mouth. "Oh!" he exclaimed, then shook his head and mumbled something, then looked at Donna with such a brief but intense gaze...like the one he'd given her after the 'other bus' comment so long ago now. "I must do that more often."

Jenny thought from the look on his face that he might just beg for another kiss, to make sure the detox took, but suddenly changed his mind, probably from fear that Mum might slap him for that, even though she probably wouldn't, given how she'd looked a while ago, because he verbally stumbled over adding "I mean the detox", and thus he missed Mum mumbling something that sounded like, "Skip the anchovies next time". This was getting weirder and weirder, she thought. Mum and Dad were completely nuts, and it all started because of this party. Or just before, she corrected her thoughts, when Dad saw Mum in her dress.

Just as the Doctor was rushing off, Agatha exclaimed, "Doctor, you are impossible!" She shook her head at the closing kitchen door and murmured, "Who are you?" She then turned to face his daughter and their friend - whose relationship with him was clearly complicated. "Miss Smith, I'm sorry to say this, but your father is _beyond_ potty!"

Donna smirked a bit, shook her head and muttered, "You have _no_ idea." And found, at last, something she could wash the anchovy taste away with.

Jenny just shrugged and smiled at Agatha, and said, "That's just the way he is." Then dashed off in pursuit of her father. She'd just have to trust them to catch up; her dad might need looking after, because detox was totally new to her, and who knew what else it did besides reverse poisoning?

She caught up to him while Dad was arranging for dinner's soup course to have lots of extra pepper added, still thinking about the weird things her parents had done and were doing but finally came to the conclusion that trying to figure them out would require a talk with Nan and Great-Gramps. Neither of her parents was acting like anything unusual had happened, even though it had, so answers would not be coming from them.

* * *

There was a thunderstorm at dinner, which Donna had murmured to Jenny was 'so appropriate it was scary', and then promised to explain later, because the Doctor was about to start trying to flush the killer. Or the Vespiform, which probably was the killer.

The Doctor began to speak as the soup course was laid out. "A terrible day for all of us. The professor struck down, Miss Chandrakala cruelly taken from us, and yet, we still take dinner."

Lady Eddison replied, after a sip of soup, with a good dose of aplomb. "We are British, Doctor. What else must we do?"

"And then someone tried to poison me… Any one of you had the chance to put cyanide in my drink. But it rather gave me an idea." He commented, and dipped his spoon in the soup.

"And what would that be?" The Reverend Golightly asked.

"Well, poison." The Doctor sipped from his spoon as everyone stopped eating. "Drink up." He looked up as everyone looked at him. "I've laced the soup with pepper."

The Colonel chuckled and commented. "Ah, I thought it was jolly spicy."

"But the active ingredient of pepper is piperine. Traditionally used as an insecticide." Jenny made a face at the tingle on her tongue from the spice, then involuntarily flinched as a loud crack of thunder echoed, regretting it as Dad continued, "Oh, anyone got the shivers?"

Thunder crashed again, even closer, and all the lights went out. One of the windows popped open and the wind blew out the candles on the table, which made Jenny wonder just what the chances of that happening -were-, especially for a murder mystery.

"What the deuce is that?" Lady Eddison's husband demanded.

"Listen! Listen! Listen! Listen!" The Doctor demanded, and as everyone hushed, a loud buzzing made itself known.

"No…no, it can't be!" Lady Eddison moaned, almost as though she recognized the noise.

Jenny frowned at Lady Eddison, head tilted to the side. How _could_ she recognize the buzzing? Did she know the Vespiform?

Agatha stood and commanded, "Show yourself, demon!"

"Nobody move! No, don't! Stay where you are!" The Doctor ordered as the Vespiform showed itself, but futilely as the butler ushered Donna and Jenny out of the room. The Doctor grabbed Agatha by the arm and dragged her with him. "Out! Out! Out! Out! Out!"

In the hallway, Agatha and the Doctor ran into the butler, Donna and Jenny. He raised an eyebrow at his daughter, who'd grabbed a sword off the wall, then relocated the curious Mrs Christie back to Donna's side. "Not you, Agatha. You've got a long life to lead yet." He momentarily hesitated before he snatched up the other sword from the wall, and nodded to his daughter. They'd corner it together.

"Well we know the butler didn't do it." Donna commented as father and daughter readied themselves to charge into danger.

"But who did?" Jenny asked, then followed her father in a mad charge back into the dining room, to find the lights coming back on, and no Vespiform.

"My jewelery… the Firestone—it's gone! Stolen!" Lady Eddison was distressed at the loss of her necklace, but what was noticed next would nearly shatter her.

"Roger," moaned Davenport, as though he wanted to drown himself in grief but didn't quite dare. Miss Redmond screamed, and the already distressed Lady Eddison walked around the table, to stand over the corpse of her son who was stabbed in the back, sobbing "My son…my child!"

* * *

Later, in the sitting room, the Doctor, Donna, Jenny and Agatha gathered to discuss the latest occurrences. Agatha sat on a sofa, the lightning occasionally highlighting her face, while the Doctor stood near the fireplace, staring into the distance as the lightning flared and faded with the fading of the storm.

"That poor footman." Donna said, softly but with feeling as she entered the room, Jenny trailing behind. "Roger's dead and he can't even mourn him. 1926. It's more like the dark ages." She sat on the sofa beside Agatha, but left room for Jenny to join them if she wanted.

"Did you inquire about the necklace?" Agatha looked up at Jenny, who'd been sent to ask earlier about the stolen jewelry.

"Lady Eddison brought it back from India when she returned. With a six month case of malaria. It's worth thousands, according to her," Jenny replied, still a bit distant, but adding in things she'd learned earlier with Mum, even though it might not have been called for. But she was distracted - poor Roger...even if he hadn't been serious with his flirting, he had seemed nice. And now he was dead. Frowning, she sat beside her mum and wished she could lean in to her - she couldl really use a hug right now.

"This thing can sting, it can fly… It could wipe us all out in seconds—why is it playing this game?" The Doctor pondered aloud, staring off into the distance. He'd talk to his daughter later, if Donna didn't beat him to it, but for now there was an alien flying about and murdering as though it were starring in one of Agatha Christie's novels.

Agatha stared out the window, absently, and replied, "Every murder is essentially the same—they are committed because somebody wants something."

"Yes, but what does a Vespiform want?" he asked, head tilted.

Agatha shook her head. "Doctor, stop it. The murderer is as human as you or I."

The Doctor looked stunned, then said, "You're right. He walked over to sit in a chair across from the sofa the ladies were on. "I've been so caught up with giant wasps, I've forgotten. You're the expert."

"Look, I told you. I'm just a…purveyor of nonsense." she replied, and ignored the comforting feeling of Donna's hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, 'cause plenty of people write detective stories, but yours are the best. And why? Why are you so good, Agatha Christie? Because you understand. You've lived…you've fought…you've had your heart broken. You know about people—their passions, their hope and despair and anger, all of those. Tiny huge things can turn the most ordinary person into a killer. Just think, Agatha. If anyone can solve this, it's you." The Doctor smiled encouragingly at one of his favourite authors, and hoped that she could look past her self-doubt and actually solve the thing.

Because otherwise he'd have to be a bit ridiculous and set a trap for a giant wasp. And while that might be a good thing, he had his daughter to think about, who'd probably volunteer to be bait. No, it would be better if Agatha could figure it all out herself. Plus it'd be a boost to her confidence.

* * *

Later on, everyone who was still alive had been gathered into the sitting room. All the guests were seated on the various sofas and chairs, and the Doctor stood in front of the fireplace.

"I've called you here on this endless night because we have a murderer in our midst. And when it comes to detection, there's none finer… Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Agatha Christie." He bowed to the woman and sat on the small sofa beside Donna, who had a bowl of grapes on a little table between herself and Jenny.

Agatha took the Doctor's previous stand in front of the fireplace, and commenced. "This is a crooked house…a house of secrets. To understand the solution, we must examine them all. Starting with you…Miss Redmond."

Jenny took a few grapes with a smirk. At last, Miss Redmond's secrets were going to be revealed, and she would get to see it all. She popped one in her mouth and leaned back a little in her chair to watch the show. Hmm. Grapes were nice, tangy and sweet. She'd have to see if Mum or the TARDIS would keep some around.

Robina Redmond shook her head in denial. "But I'm innocent, surely."

"You've never met these people and these people never met you. I think the real Robina Redmond never left London. You're impersonating her!" Agatha was nearly ready to drop the information Jenny had revealed. Such a lovely girl for being the daughter of such a potty yet brilliant man.

"How silly. What proof do you have?" 'Robina' was still trying to pretend innocence, but it would be over shortly.

Agatha thought 'At last, I remember what it was Miss Redmond said during her interview that had been bothering me'. "You said you'd been to the _toilet_ …" Inwardly, she smiled in satisfaction as Miss Redmond flinched.

Donna chimed in with "Oh, I know this—if she was really posh, she'd say 'loo'."

Jenny was confused at the thought that there were different words for different classes of societies, but the warm hug and communication of the TARDIS reassured her that, until she learned what the differences were, she wouldn't be allowed to make silly mistakes like that. Or at least, people wouldn't hear them...and she would have to ask later how that worked. Right now, Miss Redmond was about to get her comeuppance.

"Exactly," Agatha acknowledged, then continued. "Earlier today, Miss Noble, Miss Smith and I found this on the lawn…" She exhibited the tool case to everyone, while Miss Redmond tried to look casual as she sipped her wine, then turned to face Miss Redmond with it "…right – as Miss Smith noticed – beneath your bedroom window. You must have heard Miss Noble and Miss Smith were searching the bedrooms and you panicked. You ran upstairs and disposed of the evidence."

'Robina' attempted a denial, although it would be fruitless. "I've never seen that thing before in my life."

"What's inside it?" Lady Eddison asked.

"The tools of your trade, Miss Redmond, or should I say…the Unicorn." Agatha took that moment to open the case to show lock-picking tools to everyone, and all eyes turned to the false 'Miss Redmond'. "You came to this house with one sole intention—to steal the Firestone!"

"Oh, all right then. It's a fair cop." replied Miss Redmond as she stood, her accent changing to a coarser one. "Yes, I'm the bleedin' Unicorn. Ever so nice to meet you, I don't think." She made her way over near the Colonel, while the Doctor left his seat to join Agatha by the fireplace. "I took my chance in the dark and nabbed it." She reached under her dress and pulled out the Firestone. "Go on then, ya nobs, arrest me. Sling me in jail." She threw the necklace, but instead of it being a distraction for her escape, the Doctor caught it. Firestone caught and tucked away for the moment, the Doctor resumed his seat by Donna.

"So, is she the murderer?" Jenny asked. She really didn't like the deceptive woman, and was quite ready to lay everything at her feet and declare the Vespiform innocent...well, if her Dad and Agatha Christie agreed, of course.

"Don't be so thick." She nonchalantly leaned an arm against the back of the Colonel's chair. "I might be a thief but I ain't no killer." The Unicorn sneered at Jenny, who didn't care as she'd been suspicious of the woman for hours now. But if the Unicorn wasn't the killer, then the Vespiform was. But who was the Vespiform? Which one of the remaining people could it be? The only ones she could eliminate were her dad, her mum and herself. Oh, and Agatha Christie...but who was it among the rest?

"Quite," Agatha calmly replied. The Unicorn, with no current chance to escape, returned to take a seat somewhat behind where she'd been earlier. "There are darker motives at work, and, in examining this household…we come to you…Colonel." Agatha eyed the wheelchair-bound man.

"Damn it, woman! You with your perspicacity! You've rumbled me!" Lady Eddison's husband stood up easily, rendering the entire room speechless with surprise. Jenny wondered why he would conceal that he could walk, and whether he was going to explain it now that everyone knew.

"You—you can walk? But why?" Lady Eddison implored, hoping for an explanation that would keep the rest of her world from crumbling away.

"My darling, how else could I be certain of keeping you by my side?" her husband asked, taking her hand and leaning over a little, imploring her to understand and not condemn.

"I don't understand." Lady Eddison declared, begging with her eyes for her husband to explain.

"You're still a beautiful woman, Clemency." He smiled a bit as she tilted her head bashfully. "Sooner or later, some chap will turn your head. I couldn't bear that." He squeezed his wife's hand, then she leaned her head against his. "Staying in the chair was the only way I could be certain of keeping you." Reminded where they were by a stray sound, he pulled his hand free of his wife and turned on Agatha. "Confound it, Mrs Christie! How did you discover the truth?"

"Um, actually, I had no idea. I was just going to say you were completely innocent." Agatha sheepishly replied.

"Ah… Oh." Sheepish was contagious, apparently, from the look on the Colonel's face.

"Sorry." Agatha was somewhat taken aback by the unexpected confession, but gamely carried on. There was a niggle, a germ of an idea though...

"Well, shall I sit down then?" Why he was asking the woman who'd accidentally unmasked him what he should be doing was beyond the Colonel, but that's what he was doing.

"I think you better had." Agatha replied, trying to secure in her mind the seeds of an idea - a murder to which several people confessed. It would eventually wind up being published as Murder on the Orient Express.

"So he's not the murderer?" Donna asked.

"Indeed not. To find the truth…let's return…" Agatha paused while the Doctor handed her the Firestone. "…to this. Far more than the Unicorn's object of desire. She pondered it as she stared at it. "The Firestone has quite a history. Lady Eddison."

"I've done nothing!" exclaimed Lady Eddison.

"You brought it back from India, did you not? Before you met the Colonel. You came home with malaria and confined yourself to this house for six months, in a room that has been locked ever since, which I rather think means—"

"Stop, please!" begged Clemency Eddison.

"I'm so sorry. But you had fallen pregnant in India…unmarried and ashamed, you hurried back to England with your confidante, a young maid, later to become housekeeper, Miss Chandrakala." At this, the Doctor leaned his head against his fist in contemplation.

"Clemency! Is this true?" queried the Colonel. Not that he loved her less, he'd show her later. But Mrs Christie had been right - this was a house of secrets. A pity they'd been uncovered only after his son had been murdered.

"My poor baby. I had to give him away. Oh, the shame of it." Lady Eddison sobbed, ashamed and relieved to have the sordid truth revealed at last.

"But you've never said a word!" her husband commented, forceful in his upset.

"I had no choice. Imagine the scandal, the family name. I'm British—I carry on." she sniffed, then took a big sip of her drink. Even though she was relived that her husband at last knew the truth, she was too British to discuss it with him. And certainly not in front of so many others!

"And it was no ordinary pregnancy," The Doctor commented, as some pieces of the puzzle began to come together for him.

"How can you know that?" Lady Eddison demanded. The nerve of the man, how dare he?

He turned his head to look at Agatha as he spoke. "Excuse me, Agatha, this is my territory." The Doctor said, then turned back to Lady Eddison and propped his head on his hand again. "But when you heard that buzzing sound in the dining room, you said, "It can't be". Why did you say that?"

"You'd never believe it." the grieving woman sniffed.

"The Doctor has opened my mind to believe…many things." Agatha Christie commented as she sat.

"It was forty years ago…In the heat of Delhi one night. I was alone and that's when I saw it—a dazzling light in the sky. The next day, he came to the house—Christopher, the most handsome man I'd ever seen. Our love blazed like a wildfire. I held nothing back." It was as though a dam had burst for Lady Eddison, and the secret she'd been keeping for forty years burst out of her and ran freely - with the aid of another large sip of her drink. "And in return, he showed me the incredible truth about himself. He'd made himself human to learn about us. This was his true shape - a large, intelligent wasp. I loved him so much it didn't matter."

Lady Eddison's eyes watered. "But he was stolen from me. 1885, the year of the Great Monsoon. The River Jumuna rose up and broke its banks. He was taken at the flood." She lifted a handkerchief to her eyes with one hand, clutching her drink like a lifeline with the other. "But Christopher left me a parting gift—a jewel like no other. I wore it always, part of me never forgot. I kept it close. Always."

"Just like a man—flashes his family jewels and you end up with a bun in the oven." The Unicorn darkly commented, and Jenny curled her lip at her. She'd ask Mum later what that meant - she wasn't going to look the fool in front of Miss Unicorn!

"A "poor little child". Forty years ago, Miss Chandrakala took that newborn babe to an orphanage. But Professor Peach worked it out. He found the birth certificate." Agatha ignored the Unicorn and spoke to Lady Eddison.

"Oh, that's "maiden"—maiden name!" Donna exclaimed, startling Jenny into dropping her grapes back into the bowl. What was a maiden name, and what did that have do do with anything?

"Precisely," Agatha confirmed.

"So she killed him." Donna stated, as she took some grapes from the bowl.

"I did not!" Lady Eddison denied hotly.

"Miss Chandrakala feared that the professor had unearthed your secret. She was coming to warn you." Agatha noted, watching Lady Eddison.

"So she killed her?" Jenny asked, by now completely confused.

"I did not!" Lady Eddison once more denied.

"Lady Eddison is innocent. Because at this point…" Agatha turned her gaze to that brilliantly potty man. "Doctor?"

"Thank you." The Doctor stood and walked over to stand beside Agatha. "Because at this point when we consider the lies and secrets and the key to these events, then we have to consider…it was you, Donna Noble…" He pointed at her, and his daughter scoffed, while Donna almost choked on a grape.

"Dad, you know very well she didn't do it!"

"What? What did I do? I know I didn't kill anyone!" Donna exclaimed, the moment she could talk after swallowing the majority of a mouthful of grapes.

The Doctor moved closer to Donna, stopping when he was right beside her, and gave her one of his 'you're brilliant' looks. "No, but you said it all along, the vital clue—that this whole thing is being acted out like a murder mystery. Which means…it was you, Agatha Christie." He then pointed at Agatha.

"I beg your pardon, sir?" Agatha, aghast, gazed at the Doctor's pointing finger.

"So she killed them?" Donna asked, eyes wide in shock.

"No, but she wrote. She wrote those brilliant, clever books. And who's her greatest admirer? The moving finger points…at you, Lady Eddison." The Doctor declaimed.

"Leave me alone!" cried Lady Eddison.

"So she did kill them after all? " Jenny asked. She was SO confused now! Was this really the way murders were solved? She was SO going to have to read those books as soon as possible; too many questions needed answers!

"No, but just think…" He left Donna's side to return to stand in front of the fireplace. "...last Thursday night, what were you doing?" The Doctor asked Lady Eddison.

"Uh, I was uh…I was in the library. I was reading my favourite Agatha Christie thinking about her plots, and how clever she must be." Lady Eddison looked up and asked the Doctor, "How is that relevant?"

"Just think—what happened Thursday night?" The Doctor asked, turning to face Reverend Golightly.

"I'm sorry?" The confused Golightly asked.

"You said on the lawn this afternoon, last Thursday, those boys broke into your church."

"That's correct…they did. I discovered the two of them—thieves in the night. I was most perturbed. But I apprehended them." The Reverend was a bit flustered.

"Really? A man of God against two strong lads? A man in his forties? Or, should I say, forty years old…exactly." The Doctor stated, watching Golightly intently.

"Oh, my God!" Lady Eddison exclaimed, as she stared at the Reverend in shock.

"Lady Eddison, your child—how old would he be now?" The Doctor asked, never taking his eyes off the Reverend.

"Forty. He's…forty." she sniffed.

"Your child has come home." he murmured, continuing to watch Golightly.

"Ha! This is poppycock!" exclaimed the Reverend.

"Oh? You said you were taught by the Christian fathers, meaning, raised in an orphanage."

"My son! Can it be?" the Lady asked in wonder.

"You found those thieves, Reverend, and you got angry. A proper, deep anger for the first time in your life and it broke the genetic code. You changed. You realized your inheritance. After all these years…you knew who you were. Oh, and then it all kicks off 'cause this…" He took the Firestone from Agatha and held it up between his fingers. "…isn't just a jewel – it's a Vespiform telepathic recorder. It's part of you—your brain, your very essence. And when you activated, so did the Firestone. It beamed your full identity directly into your mind. And, at the same time, it absorbed the works of Agatha Christie directly from Lady Eddison. It all became part of you. The mechanics of those novels formed a template in your brain. You killed in this pattern because that's what you think the world is. Turns out we are in the middle of a murder mystery. One of yours, Dame Agatha." He sat on the arm of the sofa next to Agatha as he finished.

"'Dame'?" Agatha queried.

"Oh, sorry, not yet." he replied.

"So he killed them? Yes? Definitely?" Donna asked, wondering if they'd finally figured out who the murderer was, or if they were going off on another tangent.

"Yes." the Doctor replied, and Agatha stood up, shocked, with guilt tinging her face.

"Well, this has certainly been a most entertaining evening. Really, you can't believe any of this, surely, Lady Eddizzz—" The Reverend stopped dead, as though he'd been choked by the buzzing in his speech.

"Lady who?" asked the Doctor, leaning forward on his perch. At some point during Golightly's speech above, the Doctor stood.

"Lady Eddizzzon…"

"Little bit of buzzing there, Vicar?" The Doctor queried.

"Don't make me angry." The Reverend Golightly ordered, standing abruptly in a rage that sent the Unicorn running for safety behind the Colonel.

"Why? What happens then?" Jenny asked, trying to hide how nervous and, yes, frightened, she was becoming.

"Damn it! You humanzzz! Worshipping your tribal sky godzzz! I am so much more! That night, the universe exploded in my mind! I wanted to take what wazz mine. And you, Agatha Christie, with your railway station bookstall romancezzz… What'zzz to stop me killing you?"

"Oh my dear God," Lady Eddison cried, reaching for Golightly. "My child!"

"What'zzz to stop me killing you all?" The Reverend Golightly transformed into the Vespiform.

"Forgive me!" cried Lady Eddison, still reaching for her alien son.

"No, Clemency!" Her husband and butler pulled her to the door. "Keep away! Keep away, my darling!"

Agatha snatched the Firestone from the Doctor while the Colonel was pulling Lady Eddison away, and held it up. "No! No more murder! If my imagination made you kill, then my imagination will find a way to stop you, foul creature!" She ran from the sitting room, closely followed by the Doctor, Donna, Jenny and the Vespiform. The Doctor and Donna closed the doors behind them, while Jenny looked for Agatha. She drove past in her car and honked the horn, and the trio ran to her.

"Over here! Come and get me, Reverend!" Agatha called when the Vespiform broke the doors.

"Agatha, what are you doing?" The Doctor demanded.

"If I started this, Doctor, then I must stop it!" Agatha firmed her chin and drove off, leaving the family behind.

But not for long, as the Doctor ran to another car, and shouted as he was starting it. "Come on! We can't lose her!" To prove his point, as Donna and Jenny were piling in the car, the Vespiform flew off after Agatha.

* * *

It was a rough ride, and the car made unhappy grinding noises every so often. Jenny wondered if her mum should be the one driving, because it seemed like Dad was having issues coaxing it to do what he wanted. A thought occurred to her that struck her Dad's driving issues from her mind. "You said this is the night Agatha Christie loses her memory...doesn't that mean everything will turn out all right, Dad?"

"Time is in flux right now, Jenny! Can't you feel it? For all we know, this is the night Agatha Christie loses her life and history gets changed!"

"Oh." So that was what that weird feeling she sensed was, like a chill deep inside, combined with an itch. And she hoped she would never have to feel what it was like if time was reformed askew, because that was bound to be worse.

"But where is she going?" Donna asked, holding on to Jenny so they wouldn't get bumped out of the car, with it being such a tight fit.

"The lake! She's heading for the lake! What's she doing?" The Doctor scowled behind the wheel as he shifted gears again. It had been a long time since he'd driven Bessie, and he'd forgotten how hard an unmodified car of that type was to drive.

They did catch Agatha up though, just as she got out of her car and moved closer to the lake, the Firestone held high in her hand. "Here I am! The honey in the trap. Come to me, Vespiform."

"She's controlling it." Donna murmured, awed and impressed.

"Its mind is based on her thought processes. They're linked." The Doctor said as he moved closer to Agatha and the Vespiform, even now darting closer to the author and pulling back.

"Quite so, Doctor," Agatha agreed. "If I die, then this creature might die with me."

The Doctor put himself in-between Agatha and the Vespiform, trying to talk him down. "Don't hurt her! You're not meant to be like this. You've got the wrong template in your mind."

"He's not listening!" Jenny shouted, and, knowing her father would be _so_ disappointed in her, but not seeing any other way to save her family and Agatha, she snatched the Firestone from Agatha and threw it in the lake. Donna pushed Jenny out of the way as the Vespiform flew just over their heads, then dove into the water after it. Once it had gone past, Donna pulled Jenny into a hug. Oddly, that patch of the lake glowed purple. The Doctor and Agatha approached the shore, and Donna and an upset Jenny approached, to stand on Agatha's right.

"How do you kill a wasp?" Donna reflected aloud, folding the trembling Jenny deeper into her arms. "Drown it. Just like its father."

Jenny started crying in her mum's warm hug, because, despite all her programming as a soldier, and all the weapons she knew how to use, _this_ was the first time she'd ever killed anything. And the way she felt about that...oh, her insides were all twisted up, and she couldn't stop thinking about how, if the Vespiform had only been willing to be peaceful, there might have been another way...

Upset and disturbed at what he thought was the soldier, the killer, rearing it's head in his daughter again which he'd tried so hard to prevent from acting – even before he acknowledged her as his daughter - the Doctor rounded on her and half-shouted. "Jenny, that thing couldn't help itself!"

Jenny choked back a sob and firmed her chin as she faced her father down from the safety of her mother's arms - it would have been more impressive if tears hadn't been streaking lines down her cheeks. "Neither could I! It would have killed us all - there wouldn't be anything to stop it! It said so itself, _you_ said so earlier, and I couldn't... _couldn't_ lose either of you..." Another sob was swallowed, and she turned to bury herself in her mum's hug, not noticing how her father slumped a bit.

Donna noticed though, and mouthed 'We'll all talk later', then returned to soothing Jenny. This wasn't the time to mention that she'd have done it if Jenny hadn't beaten her to it. She wasn't sure when it would be right, but now certainly was not.

"Death comes as the end," murmured Agatha. "And justice is served."

"Murder at the Vicar's Rage." The Doctor muttered, still twisted up inside about his daughter sending the Vespiform to drown. He caught Donna's eye-roll and unconsciously twitched his lip. "Needs a bit of work."

"Just one mystery left, Doctor." Agatha said, her head tilted at the brilliant, potty man. "Who exactly are you?" Before he could answer, she gasped and doubled over in agony, to be caught by the man she'd just queried. He knelt, holding Agatha to him, and Jenny and Donna stumbled over to join them.

"Oh! It's the Firestone! It's part of the Vespiform's mind!" The Doctor shouted as he leaped to the correct conclusion. "It's dying and it's connected to Agatha!" Who briefly glowed purple in his arms, then fell unconscious with the fading of the light. He checked her over to make sure she was unconscious and not dying, then softly said, "It let her go. Right at the end, the Vespiform chose to safe someone's life."

"Is she all right, though?" Donna asked as she coaxed Jenny to wipe her face with a handkerchief she'd pulled from a hidden pocket - reminding herself to thank the Old Girl for the addition when they got back - and not her sleeve.

"Oh, of course! The amnesia! Wiped her mind of everything that happened. The wasp, the murders…" The Doctor trailed off, distracted by how upset his daughter still was. Perhaps he was wrong, and she was just being like him. How many times had he had to kill to save lives?

"And us. She'll forget about us." Jenny sniffled into the handkerchief, then stuck her tongue out at her mum when she was told 'blow your nose'.

"Yeah, but we solved another riddle—the mystery of Agatha Christie." He gave his daughter an apologetic look and stood, Agatha Christie in his arms. "And tomorrow morning, her car gets found by the side of the lake." He nodded to his girls to follow, and laid the lady in the back seat of the car they used, then started the car. On the way back to the TARDIS, so he could set up the disappearing and reappearing Mrs Christie, he continued. "A few days later, she turns up at a hotel in Harrogate…with no idea of what just happened. No one'll ever know."

* * *

A short time later, the three of them watched the now-conscious but amnesiac Agatha Christie climb the steps of the Harrogate Hotel. She looked back, halfway up the stairs, seeing but not truly noticing the man in a long tan coat, and two women in fancy dress on either side of him.

"Lady Eddison, the colonel, and all the staff—what about them?" Donna asked, curious to know if any of it would make the papers at all.

"A shameful story," the Doctor replied, his arms around both of his girls, to reassure Jenny that he wasn't angry anymore, and Donna...well, he didn't want her going anywhere, and that was the only way he could show it. He'd talk to Jenny in a bit, and they'd settle this new stiffness of hers. "They'd never talk of it—too British. While the Unicorn does a bunk back to London Town, she can never say she was there."

"But what happens to Agatha?" Jenny asked quietly, still upset about her dad shouting at her, but a bit better now, as she could feel his mental reassurances that he wasn't angry with her. And besides, she'd come to like the author, and wanted to know what happened to her after all this.

"Oh, great life! Met another man, married again. Saw the world. Wrote and wrote and wrote." The Doctor smiled, and gently led both ladies back into the TARDIS now that Agatha was safe inside the hotel.

"She never thought her books were any good, though," Donna sighed regretfully. "And she must have spent all those years wondering." Just like she was going to spend weeks or months wondering if her Spaceman _was_ attracted to her, or just being a bloke. And wondering, too, how she'd gone from seeing him as a long streak of alien nothing – who actually wanted to give her a chance to be magnificent, no less! – to finding so much about him to be attracted to. How was she supposed to deal with finding out she thought her best mate in the entire universe was also a physically desirable man?

"Thing is," he said as he tossed his long coat over a strut. "I don't think she ever quite forgot. Great mind like that, some of the details kept bleeding through. All the stuff her imagination could use. Like Miss Marple!" The Doctor said as he made sure the TARDIS doors were closed and bounded to the console.

"I should have made her sign a contract." Donna sighed, and tugged Jenny along.

"And in the TARDIS library," The Doctor continued as he laid in the commands to take them into the Vortex. "Is a copy of Death in the Clouds, with a giant wasp on the cover. And a wasp as a clue."

"So she did remember, at least a little bit." Jenny murmured, quite determined to read all the author's works now. Not only to sort of know Agatha better through her works, but also to get a better understanding of human nature with everything she'd just gone through.

"Somewhere at the back of her mind, it all lingered. And that's not all. My copy of Death in the Clouds was printed in the Earth calendar year Five Billion." The Doctor grinned, quite pleased with Donna and Jenny's reactions - like little fish they were. Then he winced as Jenny picked up on his thought and gave him a mental smack for comparing her to an anchovy. But he carried on with the rest of his thought about Agatha Christie, nonetheless. "People never stop reading them - she is the best selling novelist of all time."

"But she never knew." Donna sighed. Perhaps sometime she'd ask if they could go visit the author on her deathbed so she'd know how popular her books were and would always be.

"Well, no one knows how they're gonna be remembered. We can only hope for the best. Maybe that's what kept her writing. The same thing that keeps me traveling." He beamed at his girls, and was relieved to see Jenny smile a little in return. "Onwards?"

"Onwards," Donna and Jenny replied in unison, and Jenny pulled her parents into a group hug, ignoring their mutual tensing up at the contact. They'd talk, later. Right now was a quiet, family moment.


	5. Interlude 2:  Part 1 - Apologies and Storytime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two part Interlude this time...but too much came up to cover, and I really don't like making 10-12k chapters. Much love to tkelparis, for beta-work!
> 
> Read, enjoy, etc. :)

* * *

"Doctor, I can't believe you just jumped to a conclusion like that," Donna said, then leaned into the sofa she was sitting on and inhaled the scent of old books to try and keep herself calm. "Seriously, if Jenny hadn't done it, I would have - I know the Vespiform was an innocent victim in the beginning, but except for it letting Agatha go, it was wholeheartedly in on its template of murderer."

He rubbed his face and sighed, glad that Jenny was currently having a nice long soak to relax from the recent stresses. "I...well, it hasn't really been that long since we had Jenny...what, three days? Is it really so improbable that I should worry that the soldier programmed into her made a reappearance? Besides, I apologised to Jenny."

"I sure didn't hear it, Martian Boy. And when she joins us from her bath, you'd better verbalize the apology aloud or it'll fester. And that's the last thing we need, her resenting us." Donna sighed and leaned on her Spaceman...well, hers until he found Rose again, and that was all right cos he at least treated her like someone worthy of attention, and would still do even if Rose somehow miraculously made it back from wherever she was. They were mates, and that was good. Except he was...well, distracting, and that was bad.

"I apologised mentally, Donna. So I doubt I need to apologise verbally." He huffed a sigh and wrapped his arms around his Donna. If only she would understand that she was worthy of pursuit...but then, he didn't think he was worthy of pursuing her...oh bother. Best leave thinking of that for sometime he was alone, lest his reactions lead to a slap. "But if you really think I should, then I will apologise out loud."

"I just think it'll make more of an impression if you use that gob of yours to actually say you're sorry for misjudging the whole thing." Donna shifted position after a few moments in the hug, and curled up in the corner of the sofa to establish a bit of distance from that utterly distracting Time Lord before she got tempted to replay the detox without the anchovies and the rest of the mess he'd had in his mouth. "I mean, I know I don't understand that whole telepathic thing you two have going, but...well, actually spitting the words out will still mean a lot, won't it?"

"Yeaaah," he drawled and reluctantly decided not to cosy up to her again, even though he missed having her close. Not until he really understood what he was feeling about her, anyway. "Words do tend to make a bigger impression...well, except when one has a bonded spouse. Words get a bit superfluous then."

"Bonded spouse?" Donna's forehead crinkled in confusion. "Wot's that mean, when it's at home?"

"About what it sounds like, Donna," The Doctor didn't look at her, but glanced at the door instead, wondering with part of his mind what was taking Jenny so long to have her bath. "It was extremely rare even when I was young, but sometimes a married pair would be so in-tune with each other that they would establish a permanent mental bond. Of course, that would usually only be brought up after several regenerations..."

"Which means you never got the chance, I know," Donna leaned over a bit to pat the Doctor's arm. "You told me a bit of your history, and the TARDIS filled in some of the minor gaps. Don't have to go into anything about your wife unless you really want to."

"Thanks, Donna. I'd rather...well, that's the past. And digging up the past when I'm trying to look to the future..." He trailed off abruptly and withdrew mentally and physically from the subject, winding up on the other side of the sofa. He'd come to a shocking realisation when he was explaining about bonded spouses to Donna...and if she knew what he was thinking about her, she'd slap him into next week. They were only supposed to be mates in the best friends sense, not any other way, after all, so best to have a bit of distance between them. Just in case.

"Yeah, bit difficult to deal with the now if you start bringing the past up again." He didn't mean what she thought he meant, he must have just been thinking about Jenny and how hard it would be for her if he was continually comparing her to his other children. Cos he couldn't be talking about her and him, that was just nonsense cos she just wasn't that special. Not like Rose was to him, anyway.

Fortunately for both of them, distraction from the current conversational land-mine came in the form of Jenny, wrapped in a fluffy bathrobe with a towel around her head and barefoot. "Ow. I am never ever wearing those torture devices you call shoes ever again, Mum." She limped over and plopped between her parents with a sigh.

"Sorry sweetheart. I forgot heels would rub raw spots after a while...I'm just so used to wearing them, I didn't even think about it." Donna apologised and hugged her quondam daughter in apology.

"If you haven't healed up by tomorrow, I can always use the dermal regenerator on them," was her Dad's contribution. He seemed a bit on edge though, so Jenny sighed and gave him a wobbly-lipped, apologetic look.

"I really am sorry I threw the Firestone like that, Dad. But...the Vespiform was going to kill all of us, and I couldn't let that happen...couldn't let it kill any of you."

"Oh Jenny," The Doctor scooted closer and wrapped his daughter and Donna in a big hug. "I understand, really I do. I was just so upset that I said something stupid." _You'll understand when you're older, how caring for someone and wanting to protect them can make one say so many stupid things._

Jenny sighed and sniffled, held by both her parents. "It's because I was born a soldier, isn't it? But...it hurt, being responsible for its death. I never knew killing would hurt so much...why couldn't it just stop? Why'd it have to want to keep killing?" _And why didn't_ _ **it**_ _hurt from all the murders it committed? And what's being older got to do with understanding that? You were upset and you shouted at me and I shouted back because you didn't know why I did it._

"Well...a little, yes," he reluctantly admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. "But mostly because you're still so young, and I never ever wanted you to have to feel this way," He sighed and leaned his head against his daughter's, not quite knowing how to answer her questions about the Vespiform in a way that would help either of them. _I don't know why it didn't hurt, Jenny Caelesta, my little star, I really don't. You do understand why I was upset then?_

Donna shrugged on Jenny's other side and held her hand. "Sometimes...sometimes it's something wrong in their heads and they just can't stop. Poor Vespiform...he'd had such a good life as Reverend Golightly, then everything just...went wrong." She wished she could do that telepathy thing so Jenny could feel her love and concern properly, but she was only human and all she could do was cuddle and hope. And perhaps she'd see if the two aliens who'd wriggled their ways into her heart were up to storytime in a bit. They'd promised Jenny that she'd hear all about how they'd first met...and it might help her if she knew how her dad felt when he had to end lives.

"Oh. You were trying to protect me," Jenny smiled wanly at her dad, then gave her mum a quizzical look. "So...sometimes they can't be stopped without being...lethal about it?" _Oh Dad, of course I do. Now. You love me and want me to be safe. We're going to butt heads over that though, cause I want the same for you._ She hugged her dad with one arm, then settled more cosily between her parents, feeling much better now that she knew what they thought. And that her Dad didn't hate her.

"Yeah, s'about the size of it, sweetheart. There're other reasons, but we'll talk about those in a bit." Donna smiled when she felt the tension in her daughter's body melt away, then waited for a few peaceful minutes before smirking at the Doctor. "So, Sunshine, think you're ready to help me tell our girl here how we met?"

The Doctor grinned and sat up a bit straighter, but left his arm around his daughter. "Ooh, that was an adventure and a half, wasn't it? TARDIS kidnapping you, Robot Santas kidnapping you...twice. Blimey, it was hard to keep up with you and all those kidnappings!"

"Prawn!" Donna laughed, then blinked at the suddenly-appearing mugs of cocoa and plate of biscuits. "Well, looks like the Old Girl wants us to have a proper storytime...I'll start off, shall I?" She passed the mugs around, and Jenny balanced the plate on her lap as Donna started. "It was the day of my wedding, see, and I was walking down the aisle with my Dad, and suddenly I was teleported right away from there and into the TARDIS. Course, I didn't know what was going on, so I thought your dad kidnapped me and started shouting at him."

Jenny grinned at that - even in the few days she'd been alive, she'd heard her mum shout her dad down before, and oh did he make funny faces when she did! And at least they'd covered weddings in the basic sense on the shopping trip, so she didn't have to stop the story to ask about it.

"And slapping me," the Doctor added in, rubbing his cheek with his free hand. "You don't do anything by halves."

"Yeah...well, I was upset. Probably shouldn't have slapped you so much, all things considered," Donna muttered, blushing under Jenny's astonished gaze.

"You slapped Dad? Why?" Jenny asked, wide-eyed...and somewhat disturbed that her mum would hit her dad for any reason. The TARDIS showing her the actual slaps helped a little, but she just didn't understand it. Oh, she hoped she could get Nan and Great-gramps to herself for a while - she had _sooooo_ many questions she just couldn't ask her parents about!

"Let's see if I can remember. Once for babbling on about possible ways I got onto the TARDIS..."

"Oooh, I remember that one. Had a bit of a strop then too, about getting you back to Chiswick." The Doctor grinned reminiscently and shook his head. "Poor Old Girl was trying to get us there, but she had...well, call them hiccups."

Jenny giggled at that, as the Old Girl interjected a little in her head. "Daaad, they weren't hiccups. TARDIS said she was trying to keep Mum safe. Which unfortunately meant away from her wedding."

"Awww, really? That was sweet of you, you old darling." Donna smiled at the ceiling, knowing the TARDIS would catch it, then carried on. "Anyway, I'd had a bit of a pother with the inside being bigger than the outside and ran off, then we tried to get a taxi." She snorted. "Course the only taxi that actually took me anywhere was driven by a bloody Robot Santa kidnapping me."

"She was digesting something, and it felt like hiccups to me," he shrugged and shook his head. "Anyway, when Donna was kidnapped by the Roboform in Santa guise, of course I had to go rescue her. So I flew the TARDIS after her...and yes, I know you're not really built for straight flying, Old Girl, but you did magnificently." He caught Jenny about to ask a question, and telepathically showed her both the Roboform Santa and gave her a quick explanation of what Santa was.

"Oh, did she ever!" Donna exclaimed, smiling reminiscently. "Course it was a big shock to see that little blue box just drop down out of the sky right next to the taxi. And the Robot Santa had to make a chase out of it...but your Dad and the Old Girl caught us up again, and after a bit of panic at jumping from one fast-moving vehicle to another, I jumped aboard, your Dad caught me, and we got away."

"That must have been soooo exciting!" Jenny made an apologetic face, as her mum -had- said she was in a bit of a panic, then added, "And scary too, but exciting, being rescued." Jenny wondered if that was the beginning of her parents starting to like each other, the rescue. Maybe she'd find out in the rest of the story.

"We missed the wedding though," the Doctor said, then carried on. "So there we were on a rooftop, just talking about everything. And I started to scan Donna, who smacked me for...what did you call it? Bleeping you?" And he smiled, that same soft smile he'd used on that rooftop, oh so long ago.

"It was just your hand, peanut. And yeah, you were bleeping me and it was giving me a headache." Still, she couldn't help but smile back at the Doctor, even if that soft, sweet look of his was making her feel all wobbly inside. "Anyway, he was trying to figure out why the Robot Santas wanted me, so he gave me a biodamper - looked like a wedding ring - to keep me safe from them till he could suss out why." Donna rolled her eyes and smiled sadly. "Then I started telling him about Lance, and how we met at the job I was temping at...bugger got me coffee every day, got me to fall in love with him..." She paused and looked a bit sheepishly at the Doctor. "Have to admit I lied a bit...I was nagging him a bit about getting married. But...well, I _was_ in love with him then, and he was the best thing going and I _did_ want kids before it was too late. So...well, I talked him into the wedding and everything." Donna sighed and shook her head. "Wonder what he would've done if I hadn't wanted to marry him? I mean, he had to keep me around..."

The Doctor smiled ruefully at Donna and patted her hand. "Well, like you said, you were in love and so on. But he probably would've proposed in the end, just to keep you from getting away." He thought to himself that he most certainly would, if it would keep Donna from getting away from _him_ , then shook his head to toss the thought away before it managed to slip out of his mouth. "Aaanyway, we chatted up there a bit longer, then I got her to the reception...and after a bit of a bobble, everyone got settled down and I found out that Torchwood owned her employer, and, more importantly, saw exactly how she'd vanished from her wedding. Huon particles," he said, foreseeing Jenny's question. "Very old form of energy, hasn't existed except in the heart of the TARDIS for billions of years."

"Bit of a bobble!" Donna snorted. "They had the reception without me!" She then smiled wryly and shook her head when she saw Jenny open her mouth for another question. "A reception is for after weddings - usually a fancy luncheon or dinner, some dancing, gifts given to the couple. Just another way of celebrating the union, really." Once she'd cleared that up, she carried on. "Still, it was an all right party till the Robot Santas showed up, since a biodamper couldn't screen out Huon particle energy whatsits. Bloody things made the Christmas decorations attack...little explosions everywhere till your dad got to the sound system and used the sonic to shake'em to bits. The Santas I mean, not the decorations."

"Well of course - sonic vibrations at the right volume and frequency could shake anything to bits." Jenny shrugged, pulling that nugget of information from the downloaded information she'd gotten when she was born. "So...the Huon particles in you and the heart of the TARDIS are how you got pulled to her, right?"

"According to your dad, yeah." Donna smiled and stole a biscuit. "So, there we were, me and your dad and Lance gone to H.C. Clements, which was where we worked, cos that's where it all started. And where your dad had the idea of the Huon particles pulling me to the TARDIS."

"And she kept calling me Martian, too. How many times did I tell you I'm not from Mars?" The Doctor smirked at Donna, then carried on. "Anyway, we found a hidden basement, and where they'd been extruding Huon particles through the water - lovely, complex system they had going there - and that's when your mum slapped me again."

"Why? He'd just figured out how they'd gotten the particles to dose you with?" Jenny asked her mum, using what Donna was bound to call her irresistible 'puzzled kitten' expression eventually.

"Cos he was enjoying himself and babbling...about something that had the potential to kill me." Donna shot a mock-glare at the Doctor, then shook her head. "He did promise me he'd fix it, cos he didn't want to lose someone else that day. Course we didn't have much time to talk about how he was gonna get them out of me, cos that's when the giant spider showed up with all her gun-happy robots."

"Weell, she didn't show up quite yet - we did get to see the laser-drilled tunnel first. And you thought they were after dinosaurs," he added, grinning.

"Wot? Wasn't like I knew there was a Racnoss ship down there _then,_ was it? Perfectly logical deduction if you'd seen as many crap movies about dinosaurs still existing in caverns under the Earth's crust as I have."

"What's a dinosaur?" Jenny asked, looking from one parent to the other, wondering if Agatha was right and her parents really _were_ a bit potty.

"Dinosaurs - hundreds of thousands of different species of them - were prehistoric animals from Earth that eventually went extinct sixty-five million years ago. Give or take a few thousands of years in relation to Donna's time," he added the aside. "But it was a Racnoss ship and not dinosaurs, but we didn't discover that quite yet. Had to talk to the Empress over the intercom first, then she teleported down." He rubbed his neck and smiled crookedly. "Weell, after I'd done a bit of yelling about not liking talking to the boss over an intercom, that is."

"Bloody giant spider with a humanoid torso on top," Donna shuddered at the memory. "Then your dad gave me the short version of the history of the Racnoss, and then I noticed Lance sneaking up behind her with an axe so I went shouting at her to distract her from noticing him...pity my distraction was for nothing. Bloody bugger was working with her." She looked down into her empty mug of cocoa, remembering all the hurtful things Lance had said as if it was only yesterday and not over a year gone.

"Donna," the Doctor said softly, setting his empty mug on the floor so he could reach over and take one of her hands...and let quite a lot of what he thought about her spill out because he couldn't bear to see her so upset. "You know you are so much more than those hurtful things he said about you. You're brilliant, and clever, and funny...and your heart is so big, your caring, your compassion for everyone you see hurting...all of that and so much more about you make you so, so special."

"Yeah," Donna would have made an automatic protest that she wasn't special at all, but Jenny was right there and they'd probably get into a minor argument. So she just accepted it all with a wan smile and a squeeze of the Doctor's hand. That Spaceman was just determined to keep doing things to make her feel more than mates for him, whether he meant to or not. She'd have to put herself in order later so she didn't do the wrong thing and wind up losing all of this.

"Oh Mum, whatever it was he said, he was mean and wrong. You're everything Dad said, and my mum besides, which makes you super-special. So don't let whatever that bugger said drag you down." Jenny leaned against her mum and hugged her tight with one arm, trying to coax a real smile out of her.

"Sweetheart, you're a wonder. Don't ever change," Donna said, managing a better smile as she kissed Jenny's head. "Right, on with the story. So anyway, I was feeling all hurt and betrayed, but I still got in the way of the robots when the Empress was going to have your dad shot. Figured at the time it was better me than him, being depressed and all that. But your clever-clogs Dad used the Huon particle thingy to bring the TARDIS to us."

"And then I took us back to the creation of the Earth." The Doctor smiled in reminiscence. "Really lovely...and I think it managed to cheer your mum up some too."

"It did and you know it, prawn," Donna smiled more easily now, remembering the awe and majesty of the moment. "It was lovely, seeing the infant sun, and all the bits that would become the Earth. Course it was a bit weird, knowing that the Earth started coalescing because of a Racnoss ship, but it was still a grand sight to see."

"Yeah it was." They smiled at each other a moment, then the Doctor continued. "Well anyway, the Empress of the Racnoss had force-fed Huon particles into Lance, and used that to drag the TARDIS back. But I managed to bump us a bit so we didn't show up where they wanted us to. So I was trying to figure out a way to stop the Empress getting what she wanted, and explaining why the whole mess with the Huon particles - which were the energy source of the Racnoss - to Donna, but the robots snuck up and kidnapped her mid-explanation."

"Oh, that was scary," Donna shuddered. "Gagged and dragged off, and then tied up in giant spiderweb right next to Lance. At least I got the Huon particles gone - the Empress purged them from me and Lance. It was kind of pretty, watching all those golden sparkles flowing down that tunnel." She shuddered again and made a face. "It wasn't pretty to realise there were thousands - maybe millions - of spiders climbing up that tunnel to eat everything on Earth. And then," She paused and swallowed hard. "Then the Empress cut Lance loose and he fell down the tunnel to be the first bite for the horde of Racnoss." Donna shot a curious look at the Doctor. "Or would it be a swarm since they were spiderish?"

"Horde works well enough." He gave Donna a half-smile, then picked up with his next part. "Anyway, a little after that is when I showed up - got delayed by another robot, so I had to swipe it's robe and mask and pretend to be one of them so I could get back in there. I got spotted, and rescued Donna from the webbing-"

"Botched it a bit though, didn't you Time Boy?" Donna interrupted with a snort, then smirked at Jenny. "Oh, he cut me loose just right so I'd swing over the tunnel to safety...but the strands of webbing were too long, and I crashed onto the floor."

"Ow. Dad, that was horrible!" Jenny frowned at her father and shook her head at him. "Really, making Mum crash and stuff!"

"It was an accident!" He exclaimed, holding his hand up. "I didn't want to get the length too short and endanger Donna...so I erred a bit too much on the other side."

"Yeah." Donna nodded. "Big error...but all things considered, I'd rather have had the bruises than take the chance of falling down and being another Racnoss meal." She sighed and raised an eyebrow at the Doctor, silently asking him if he wanted her to explain what he did, then gave him a sympathetic smile when he shook his head minutely.

"Thanks Donna," he smiled slightly at her, and it became sad when he turned to his daughter. "The Racnoss were true omnivores - they ate _everything_ , and those Racnoss that'd been in stasis had woken hungry. So...I offered the Empress the chance to relocate her and her...well, children...to another planet where they could live and not kill any other sentient beings to eat." The small, sad smile slipped away, leaving a bleak and desolate look in his eyes. "She refused. So, to preserve the rights of the people of Earth to live without being devoured by giant spiders...I drowned them all."

"Oh," Jenny said, very quietly, and blinked at her dad a few times. Then she let go her mum so she could wrap both her arms around him in a tight hug. _Now I really understand why you were so upset when I drowned the Vespiform. M'sorry._

_Sshh, it's all right now. I told you, instead of letting Donna tell you, because you needed to know that I really do understand making hard choices. And the consequences to myself - or yourself - from our actions._ He held his daughter tightly until she was ready to let him go, then gave her that same sad smile. "We're almost done with the story - any questions?"

"Well, at least one," Jenny said, smiling weakly. "How did you drown the Racnoss? Were there massive water pipes that you soniced into falling apart?"

"Er, no, I blew holes in strategic places with confiscated explosive Christmas ornaments, and let the Thames River flood the entire underground complex...ooh, did I forget to mention I'd figured out we were under the Thames flood barrier? I did, didn't I?" A bit more back to normal, the Doctor made a wry face. "Shame on me. And shame on me for failing to mention that I'd have drowned with the Racnoss if your mum - our wonderful Donna - hadn't jolted me out of a very bad place in my mind, and reminded me that I had to at least save her."

"Oh Spaceman," Donna sighed and leaned over to squeeze his hand. "It was my pleasure." She picked up with the rest of the story, not wanting to burden the Doctor with continuing with it anymore, since he was being so vulnerable at the moment. "Anyway, after we got out on top of the Thames flood barrier is when we realised we'd drained the Thames. And we got to see the military destroy the Empress' ship. And then your dad took me home and made it snow and invited me to come with him. Course, having been scared silly half the time I said no, and regretted it the next morning. Who knows what I would've said if he'd come to Christmas dinner like I invited him to?" She sighed and smiled sadly. "But as much as I regretted saying no to him over the next year, I was glad too because my dad's health took a turn for the worse, and I'd have missed being there with him when he died if I'd gone away travelling."

"I can understand being scared," Jenny started, looking at her mum. "But how did you find Dad again?"

"Sheer luck, sweetheart." Donna replied and hugged her. "A lot of luck and being in the right place at the right time...and that story is for another day, all right?"

"I s'pose," Jenny contemplated pouting to get another story, but decided against it. She had a lot to digest from this one as it was. And she still wanted to talk to Nan and Great-Gramps about the weird way her parents were acting...ooh, idea! "Can we go visit Nan and Great-Gramps tomorrow? I want to show them the pictures of us all dressed up, and the one I took of you with Agatha Christie. Please, may we go? Pleasepleaseplease?" She begged them both, pulling out all the cute looks she could to help.

"Oh, do we have to? We were just there a few days ago," the Doctor moaned, though his heart wasn't in the complaining, given the puppy-eyes look his daughter was hitting him with.

"Aw, it'll be all right, Spaceman. Jenny and I will protect you from my big bad mum," Donna laughed and got up, collecting empty mugs and the empty plate, then hit him with her own version of the puppy eyes. "Do say yes, I'd love to see their faces when they see me with Agatha."

With both his girls giving him the puppy-eyes, the Doctor knew it was useless fighting any further. "Oh all right, we'll go tomorrow. And now it's time for you to go to bed, little star," he smiled at his daughter trying to hide a yawn.

"Time for all of us to get to bed," Donna agreed and headed for the door. "I'll just wash up real quick and then I'm turning in. Make sure you get some sleep yourself, Sunshine, hear me?"

"Yes Donna, loud and clear," He rolled his eyes at her back, then murmured to Jenny when Donna had left the room. "She's such a mother hen sometimes."

"But you need that as much as I do, Dad." Pert reply, but it was softened with a hug. "And...thanks for the story. It helped," she added as they left the library for the hall.

"I'm glad it did. Now, let's get ourselves tucked in before Donna pulls a bed-check." Father and daughter grinned mischievously at the distant 'Oi!', and headed off to bed.


	6. Interlude 2:  Part 2 - Confusion is Nothing New

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Second part of the second Interlude - this one gets a bit teary at the end. And still love to tkelparis, who makes sure I don't leave important information out. :) Also special thanks to tardis_mole, for reminding me about how useful some things can be. Like diaries. :) Love ya both!
> 
> Read, enjoy, etc :)

* * *

"So, what's gone wrong that you're out here and they're still in the TARDIS, sweetheart?" Wilf asked his quasi-great-granddaughter, who was fidgeting all over the kitchen.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing's wrong. Mum's talking with Martha, letting her know I'm alive because she was there when I was born, and Dad's doing a bit with the TARDIS, and I needed to talk to you and Nan without them." She huffed and would have continued her antsy movements, save for Sylvia's entrance.

"And what's all this then? Interpretive dance?" Sylvia snorted and shooed Jenny to the table while she went to put the kettle on. "Jenny Caelesta, sit down before you wear a hole in the floor."

Jenny heaved a huge sigh and sat down at the kitchen table, supporting her chin in her hands. Well, until Sylvia'd called out "elbows off the table, young lady!"

"Now then, calm down and tell us what's on your mind, sweetheart. You're starting to worry us a bit," Wilf patted one of Jenny's hands.

"It's nothing bad, really. It's just," Jenny sighed again and shook her head. "They're being really confusing, Dad and Mum. And more than a bit ridiculous."

"Oh, what have they done now?" Sylvia huffed as she put the teapot in the middle of the table. "Dad, could you go get those muffins I brought home?"

"Course I can." Wilf smiled at his daughter and patted Jenny's hand again before hoisting himself up to go and get the muffins.

"Well, they...I suppose they -did- do _something_ , but I'm not sure it's what I'm seeing it as. Which is what's got me so...well, fidgety, I guess. And I really could help with fixing tea, Nan." Jenny tried a hopeful smile when her Nan came back with the cups and saucers, the sugar dish and the lemons.

"I know you could, Jenny-dear, but we've a routine, Dad and I." Sylvia smiled fondly at her quondam granddaughter and fixed up the cups as Wilf came back with the muffins. "So, what did they do?"

"I bet it was something interesting." Wilf commented as he sat down after putting the muffins in reach of the three of them. "Don't tell me, they've started admitting they like each other." He smirked a bit and claimed a muffin after thanking his daughter for his cuppa.

"Dad!" Sylvia exclaimed, shocked that he'd even suggest such a thing. After all, the Doctor was a nutter of an alien, even if he did have a lovely and big-hearted daughter. She didn't want her only daughter mixed up with an alien more than she already was - really, what kind of life was that?

"Sorry Nan, but Great-Gramps nailed it. I think they're starting to _like_ -like each other." Jenny sighed and added her lemon to her tea, then took a sip and started telling her Nan and Great-Gramps everything. From the look on Dad's face when he'd seen them come out of the TARDIS dressed for the 1920's (though she held off on the photos until later - Mum would be annoyed if she didn't get to see their faces.), to how he'd reacted when Mum had been flirted with...along with his reaction to her own self being flirted with. And the _look_ and how his voice had got all husky, and the interesting thing with Agatha Christie, and getting what 'couple' meant explained, so she never had to wonder 'a couple of what' again.

"And Mum called Dad 'cute' when she was comparing him to Hercule Poirot! Course I don't think she realised she was doing it, but still!" Jenny exclaimed, then went on with telling the story of what'd happened - the murder mystery with Agatha Christie. And all about the giant wasp, and the people they'd met (and about the murders), and the education she'd gotten when Dad had taken that sample of stinger goo. And then about the most confusing part of that whole episode, very nearly. Dad being poisoned, and how he cured it.

"Seriously, I thought we were going to lose Dad when he got poisoned. But he's going to teach me how to neutralize poisons...I just hope if I ever get in that position, that someone I like will give me a shock like Mum gave Dad." Jenny sipped her tea and missed the looks from her Nan and Great-Gramps.

"Just what sort of shock was that?" Sylvia asked, refreshing their cups.

"Hm? Oh, Mum kissed Dad - right after he'd eaten a handful of anchovies. Icky little fishes, how disgusting is that? And there I was wondering how to get him an electrical shock." Jenny smiled brightly at her Nan for the refreshing, then added more lemon and nibbled at a muffin.

"Oh she did not!" Sylvia huffed, rolling right over her dad murmuring 'Did she really?'. "And even if she did, it was just to shock him for his cure, right?"

"Well, that's what I'm not sure about." Jenny replied after swallowing a mouthful of muffin. "See, Dad said 'I must do that again', and then he went mumbling around about how he meant doing the detox again. I think he thought she'd slap him, but I swear I heard Mum say 'Skip the anchovies next time'!" By this time, she was pulling the muffin apart into bits, and when she realised what she was doing, folded her hands in her lap in embarrassment. "So you see what's gotten me in such a pother," she finished, sheepishly. "I really think Mum and Dad are starting to want to be _together_ -together, like I thought they were when I was born."

"Better him than some of the other blokes she's turned up with," Wilf nodded and sipped his tea. "After all, he respects her. And he's good for her, too. Haven't seen her so excited about the possibilities of life than when she was looking for him. And nowadays, it's like she's found where she was always meant to be."

"Hmmph," Sylvia snorted. "I'd be happier if she was with someone her own species and had a job to support herself and her family with." She closed her eyes a moment and sighed, then continued. "I've got nothing against you two being aliens, sweetheart. It's just...I'd like grandchildren, and it's not very likely I'll see any more than you if she takes up with your father, is it, with him being an alien and her being human? And all this travelling - oh, it's all fun and games now, but later on is when Donna's going to regret not settling down."

"Well, at least Dad's not like that Lance," Jenny snorted indignantly, just like her mum and Nan, and started picking up pieces of muffin to mush back together.

"And what's Lance got to do with anything? He had a good career, and a bright future ahead of him-"

"And he was using Mum the entire time, too!" Muffin bits abandoned, Jenny frowned at Sylvia. "He was working with an alien, and he was basically slowly poisoning Mum. Well, not really poisoning, exactly, but same difference, because Huon particles are deadly for humans. And he was feeding them to her for months and months, so a giant intelligent spider could unlock a ship full of more giant spiders. Omnivorous spiders!"

"Now really Jenny, I know he up and vanished on her - but Donna said he was cheating on her and ran off." Sylvia frowned right back, and gestured to Jenny's plate. "Finish that up, dear."

"Well, you didn't know Dad was an alien at the time either, and she probably figured telling you that Lance had run off was easier to explain than telling you he'd pretty much sold her out to a giant spider-thing to unlock her ship and be the first meal of thousands or millions of hungry giant spiders. And I know it's true cos they both told me all about it last night, together."

"So...your dad saved her life. Probably started this whole liking him thing off too, with the effort she'd been putting in to find him again," Wilf shook his head and smiled at Jenny eating bits of muffin, then patted his daughter on the arm. "Now sweetheart, when looked at it that way, the Doctor's a lot better for our Donna than Lance was, isn't he?"

"Yes, I suppose so," Sylvia was pale from imagining what could have happened to her only daughter, and wasn't quite up to form. "I suppose that was your father, then, that drained the Thames?"

"Mmhmm," Jenny hummed through a mouthfull of muffin, then swallowed and answered properly. "Yes, to drown the spiders. Mum saved his life then, according to him. They didn't go into too much detail about that though...just that they wound up on top of the flood barrier in the end." Well actually Nan was having a hard enough time thinking about Dad liking Mum, so Jenny didn't want to tell her that Dad had dark places in his head that he could get lost in and needed dragging out of. So she went on to ask some questions that had been bothering her since last night's story. "I still don't understand everything that's involved in a wedding though. And how could all of you have had the reception party-thing without Mum? After she'd been accidentally kidnapped and all?"

"Yes, well," It was Sylvia's turn to look down at her plate and toy with a muffin. "Partly because it was paid for already, and it would have been a waste of money to cancel. And partly...well, Donna's pulled a few tricks in her time, and most of us thought her disappearance was one of them. Didn't think aliens would actually get personally involved with us then, did we? As for weddings...well, there are a lot of old customs and traditions wrapped up in those - which in particular did you have questions about?"

"Huh." Jenny tilted her head as she tried to assimilate the explanation. Humans were weird in their behaviour sometimes, but she could understand not wanting to waste resources. Perhaps that was enough of an explanation...anyway, she really wanted to know about weddings, and what was so special about them. "Well, I don't understand the entire concept, not really. Mum said that parents should be married when we were talking about babies and how they came about, but we really didn't discuss it much further than that, just that people were married once they'd had a wedding. I don't even really understand why parents should be married. Not to mention what rings have to do with it."

"I'm sure there's someone who can go into the history of weddings much better than I can. But what it all comes down to, in the end, it's just a way of announcing to the world - or one general section of it - that two people have chosen to spend the rest of their lives together." Wilf smiled wistfully, then shook his head. "Course, your Nan and I are living proof that a husband can outlive his wife or vice versa. But it's better to have had that time than not to."

Sylvia took over then, to attempt to explain the concept of wedding rings to her alien sort-of granddaughter. "There's engagement rings and there are wedding rings. Engagement rings are given when the man asks the woman to marry him - usually cost quite a bit as well, to indicate how serious he is about it, as well as how capable he is of providing for his future wife. Wedding rings are usually simpler, and are a visible token that the woman or man is unavailable to other people. Not that it seems to matter much to some people," she sniffed, then waved a hand, "but I'm not going to bog you down with all the idiotic things people can do to mess themselves up."

Jenny sighed and propped her head up on her hands again. "I'm still confused, but I think I've got the general concept now. Right now I want to know if either of you two know why Mum went for a creep like Lance? I mean, she said she was in love and she wanted kids, but...why would she go for such a creep when she's such a wonderful person?"

"I dunno," Wilf shrugged. "I never liked him, but Donna was happy with him so I just never said."

"Dad, you really should have said something." Sylvia shot Jenny a _look_ , and nodded as she folded her arms on the table properly. "But as for us, looking in from the outside...well, Lance presented himself as a good person. Always polite and willing to help out, and his family were good people so I suppose we all assumed he was a good person as well. It was a shock to all of us to find out he'd left Donna...or, as we know now, tried to feed her to alien spiders."

"Deceptive creep." Jenny scowled, then a flash from the TARDIS caught her attention. And then she caught just a glimpse of the door opening, and gave the other two a wry smile. "They're coming now - best go back to talking about Agatha Christie. Or something else."

"I'll put the kettle on again," Wilf said and stood up, then smiled at Jenny. "Come on, sweetheart, this time you can help."

"Thanks Great-gramps!" Jenny bounced up and waved to her parents as they walked in.

And the adventure with Agatha Christie was retold again from two other viewpoints, and the pictures were shown off and admired. Oddly enough to Sylvia and Wilf, that kiss that Jenny had been so emphatic about got barely a mention - it wouldn't have registered at all in their retelling of the adventure if Donna hadn't been so blustery about it being _just_ to save the Doctor's life. The conversation eventually drifted to other subjects, but Wilf in particular noticed how something had Jenny in the doldrums a bit, and made a note to pull her away later to talk about it. Maybe he could talk her into going up the hill with him and get it out of her there.

* * *

Hours later, Jenny stared at the TARDIS-blue book on the desk that Dad and the TARDIS thought she should have and sighed. She'd had the concept of a diary explained, but she'd refused to write in it until Dad had smiled and said he had a diary of his own, and had already filled two others. Called it a Five-Hundred-Year diary, and that was just weird! She knew, intellectually, that he and she would live for centuries, but to have a diary that could handle five hundred years' worth of daily events handed to her? That brought it home with the force of a blow, even though that wasn't what Dad had intended. So she'd smiled and agreed to write in it - and then left for her bedroom before that bright smile could reveal how fake it really was.

She sat there for five minutes more, frowning at the innocent book, then heaved another sigh, found a pen to write with and flipped the book open to find something written on the cover page.

_The Five Hundred Year Diary_

_of_

_Jenny Caelesta Smith_

And below that, Dad had written something in.

_My little star,_

_I know that you don't want to burden us with your worries, but if you hold them too tightly without venting them, you'll only end up hurting yourself. I know. So write your thoughts and hopes and, yes, even your fears here, and be safe in the knowledge that no one else will see them unless you want them to. And don't forget all your experiences as well - having past events written down can be extremely useful in the future.  
_

_Love,_

_Dad_

She sniffed at that, and rubbed her eyes a moment to stop the burning. Her Dad knew, and gave her this to help her. She'd have to apologise in the morning for the fake smile she'd given him, and let him know she appreciated the thought and the gift. She bit the end of the pen, then flipped the page to make her very first entry.

_My very first diary entry, and I don't really know what to write. Perhaps I should start with my name. My mum, Donna, named me Jenny when I was born, because I didn't have a name. She also argued with my dad about accepting me no matter how I'd come about. Which is a good thing, otherwise I wouldn't have a middle name - Dad gave me that when we went to meet Mum's parents, just before we ate dinner. Caelesta means 'star', and Dad got all mushy when he said he picked it because I was his little star. And I think that's what made Nan not quite so sharp with him like she'd been before, because he got all mushy. Oh, this is coming out completely out of order! I shan't erase, I'll just start below this._

After she'd caught up with the first four days of her existence, Jenny sighed and started writing about what was bothering her the most.

_I still feel wretched about killing that Vespiform, but Great-Gramps helped when he dragged me up the hill for a talk. He was a soldier too, and he knows that a soldier's first duty is to stop whatever is threatening the innocents of the world. Or just where you are, and Mum and Agatha were definitely innocents. He said I'd feel bad about it, and not to ever stop feeling bad about having to end a life because if I did, it'd mean I'd stopped caring. And apparently it's really really hard to start caring again after you stop. So I promised him that I'd always try and make things come to a peaceful end, but if I had to kill, I'd always regret it. It made me feel better talking to another soldier who wanted to be a soldier, rather than talking with Dad, who was pretty much forced to fight all his battles. Even though Dad's lived longer and has more experience...I just feel like Great-Gramps understands that part of me better._

_After our talk, Dad came up the hill and I wish I'd stayed to listen, because Great-Gramps started talking about Mum, and how he could see she and Dad were getting closer. But I had to go so Dad would be able to talk without worrying, so I'll never know exactly how many denials he put forth before Great-Gramps got him to think about it. And no, I am_ _**not** _ _going to pester Dad about it, that would be wrong. And weird, but mostly wrong. I wasn't even supposed to hear Great-Gramps anyway, and...well, I don't want to think about it too hard, even if I do want Mum and Dad together. A watched pot never boils, said Nan, and I think she meant not pestering Mum and Dad about their feelings for each other. I'm glad she's on-side now though - she may not nudge Mum and Dad like Great-Gramps, but she wasn't happy at the thought of Mum and Dad being_ _**together** _ _until Great-Gramps reminded her that happiness with a loved one was worth any pain. I don't think I was supposed to hear that either, but I can't help having better-than-human hearing! Which is really just part of me, but it means I have to be extra careful not to accidentally listen in because that's rude and wrong. Or so says Mum, and she's mostly right all the time, so I'll just be good unless we get locked in another cell or something where I'll need to listen in._

_But being better than human cuts to the heart of why I started using this diary instead of letting it sit around and collect dust - well, it would if the TARDIS would let dust settle. It hit me hard, just tonight when Dad gave me this diary, that Mum's human. Humans have lots shorter lifespans than Time Lords, and they can't regenerate. It isn't fair - we'll lose her before we've barely had her! And I don't want to lose my mum! Yes, I know it's in the future, but still, it's a scary and painful thought and makes me want to cry just thinking about it. Stupid tears trying to blur my writing..._

_I can't even begin to think about how losing Mum will affect Dad either. If they're together, that's a good thing for the now because they'll both be happy. But he won't even have a hundred years with her, and then he'll have to go on for the rest of his lives without her, and that's horrible! And I'm afraid of what Dad might do without Mum, and I don't know if I'll be strong enough by then to stop him from doing something stupid. Like burning through his remaining regenerations and leaving me and the TARDIS all alone._

_I suppose I could go have a child by progenation ( **so** much easier than growing one inside me!) and then we wouldn't be alone anymore after that...but after the problems Dad had just accepting me, I don't know...oh, this is stupid. I'm worrying so much about what could happen years and years and years from now that I'm forgetting to live in the now. Now is Mum and Dad and me, and I won't spoil anything for them by fretting about the future._

_Now I just have to figure out how to stuff the fear of being alone in the future away so it doesn't interfere with my happy now._

_Jenny._

Jenny read over her first diary entry one more time before closing it and putting it away in a drawer. Hopes, worries, thoughts and fears - oh, Dad had got it right with that. And she tried to stuff away the fear of being alone in the universe, she really did, but she couldn't stop thinking about it, and tears welled up in her eyes. With a stifled sob, she threw herself on her bed, burying her face in a pillow so no one could hear her being stupid about the future...one that might not even happen. Even the comforting hug of the TARDIS didn't help, because even she couldn't reassure her about Dad's future.

So this was the second night in her short life that Jenny cried herself to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7:  Shh!  It's a Library!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I obviously don't own them, Jenny's travelling with her parents like she should've been all along :P
> 
> Author's Note: It's time to hit the beach! Oh, no, wait, beach trip got hijacked by a message on the psychic paper - we're off to the Library now!
> 
> Sorry for the long wait - I had issues with uploading chapters, then I lost home internet and couldn't stay at the library long enough to properly upload and edit. Now, I finally have the time to try, though I still probably don't have enough time to catch this one up properly. But anyway, here's the first of the Library chapters!
> 
> Love to my reviewers and readers!

* * *

 

 

It was probably too good to be true, Donna thought. Yeah, they'd actually just done something they'd intended to - visit Agatha Christie at the end of her years so she could remember the three of them - but the chances of that continuing through the beach visit the Doctor'd just suggested? Slim and none came to mind. Which was why she hadn't gone with Jenny to get changed for a beach trip - she was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

And here it was now - Donna stared at the Doctor as he winced and pulled out the folder with the psychic paper, flipped it open and frowned in puzzlement as he read, then stuffed it back in his pocket and started changing the coordinates. "What's all this then?"

"Ah, well, we have to hit the beach later - I need to go to The Library." The Doctor gave Donna a crooked smile and adjusted a control. "Will you go tell Jenny for me?"

"I do not believe you! You could tell her yourself instead of making me the bearer of bad news! You know how much she was looking forward to the beach!" Donna glowered, hands on hips, and very tempted to slap him.

"I could, but I need to handle the piloting to make sure we get there when we should. Please, Donna? I promise I'll make it up to both of you, I really do." The Doctor gave his ginger a pleading, puppy-eyes face, then beamed when she sighed and let her hands fall from her hips.

"All right, all right," she huffed and whirled to go deliver the bad news. "But it better not be because you've got overdue books. Blimey - how many books in the TARDIS library are actually yours, anyway?" She paused and half-turned to face him again, and shook a finger at him. "And it'd better be a spectacular making-up - especially for Jenny's sake." As she whirled back about, she sent a mental apology to the TARDIS and stomped the entire way out of the Console Room. Just so that bloody Martian would know how peeved she was.

Alone, the Doctor sighed and ran his hand through his hair, then stole another glance at the psychic paper with a puzzled frown. Shaking his head, he set the TARDIS in motion, then started talking to the Old Girl as they transited the Vortex. "Yes, I know it's bound to be trouble ahead, old girl. But I can't ignore a message like that one, you know that." He sighed again and shook his head. "We'll see about going to Katta Go Flo after this... it does have magnificent beaches, and I did promise Donna a trip there a while back. Should settle both my other girls down, don't you think?" He grinned at the TARDIS' reply and nodded. "Yes, that'll work nicely. Now, let's get to the Library before they come back, eh?"

 

* * *

 

Jenny was in her room, half undressed with her bathing suit laid out on the bed ready for her, when Donna knocked. "Come in!" she chirped and bounced in excitement. At last, she was going to personally find out about beaches! She'd loved her mum's tales, and now she was actually going to get to go herself!

Donna opened the door and stepped inside, gave the jungle-patterned suit a brief glance and could have sworn that the leopard peering through the greenery scowled at her. She shook her head because it obviously couldn't scowl, then sighed and gave Jenny a small smile. "Best put the suit away, sweetheart. There's been a change of plans - or something else got up your dad's nose. Or both. We're going to a library now."

Jenny frowned, one trainer in hand, one on her foot, with a pair of sandals waiting for her. "A library? But...why? I thought we were going to a beach?" She bit her lip and sat on her bed to put her shoe back on. "What happened that Dad suddenly wants to go to a library?"

"I dunno," Donna shrugged and watched Jenny sadly stroke the printed bathing suit before putting it away and squirming back into her t-shirt. "Suddenly he's pulling the psychic paper out of his pocket and then bam - we're going to this library. I swear, if he's got late books and he's been called in to pay the fine, I'm going to be shouting at him. He did promise us something spectacular to make up for this though, so maybe I'll only shout at him a little bit."

"But not slap him, right?" Jenny grinned as she tucked her starscape patterned t-shirt back into her jeans and bounced a little. "Just a little swat here and there?" She was still a bit disappointed though - she'd really wanted to experience a beach for herself. And watch her parents try not to look at each other too much... not to mention see if she could stop fretting so much about the future.

"Well, not unless he does something that deserves a slap. Promise, sweetheart - just swats." Donna smiled and held out her hand as the TARDIS let them know she'd landed. "Let's go then - sooner this is done, the sooner we can find out what spectacular replacement he's got in mind."

 

* * *

 

"So, it's a library," Jenny said, trailing behind her parents and looking at the walls full of shelves, hands stuffed in the pockets of her denim jacket she'd grabbed on the way out of the TARDIS. "TARDIS has a bigger one, so why are we here?"

"Oh Jenny, the TARDIS' library is nowhere near as large as this one," The Doctor said with a chuckle, and grinned at their stunned faces as the trio stepped out onto the landing of the staircase to see buildings upon buildings spread out like a city. "The Library. So big it doesn't need a name, just a great big 'the'." His grin got broader, and he gave his daughter a one-armed hug. "Your first properly alien planet, Jenny."

"Oh my God, the buildings are shaped like filled bookshelves! It's like a city!" Donna was staring in amazement at the sight spread out before them. And frowned a little, because she could see transports, but nothing was moving. And no people walking around. Still, she thought, maybe everyone was tucked away with a good book.

"It's a world. Literally a world. The whole core of the planet is the index computer, biggest hard drive ever. And up here, every book ever written. Whole continents of Jeffrey Archer, Bridget Jones, Monty Python's Big Red Book. Brand new editions, specially printed. We're near the equator, so..." He paused to lick his finger, then lifted it up to feel the wind. "...this must be Biographies! I love biographies!"

"Yeah, very you." Donna rolled her eyes. "Always a death at the end."

"You need a good death. Without death there'd only be comedies. Dying gives us size." His brows knit in a concerned frown as Jenny turned away, clutching her arms, but he got side-tracked by Donna picking up a book which he had to take away from her. "Oi! Spoilers!"

"What?" Donna gave him an indignant look when the book was snatched away from her.

"These books are from your future. You don't wanna read ahead and spoil all the surprises. Like peeking at the end." He put the book back on the pile, then turned to see his ginger staring at him with her arms folded.

"Isn't travelling with you one big spoiler?" She huffed and eyed the book, but didn't want to get into an argument about what harm could a little book do with Jenny just now rejoining them and looking a bit upset. So instead she wrapped an arm around the girl and gave her a quick hug, deciding to ask what was bothering her later. And depending on what might happen in the next few minutes, later could be hours in coming.

"I...try to keep you away from major plot developments." He rubbed the back of his neck and frowned. "Which, to be honest, I seem to be very bad at, cos you know what? This is the biggest Library in the universe. So where is everyone? It's silent." He strode to an information terminal and started to use the sonic on it, Donna and Jenny trailing behind.

"The Library?" Donna gave Jenny a questioning look to see if she was all right.

Jenny shrugged, then clasped her arms again. "It's the whole planet, isn't it? There's no background murmur of anything near us, no transports running, no messages being broadcast...nothing. It's so...quiet."

"Maybe it's a Sunday then, sweetheart," Donna smiled at Jenny, even though it didn't quite reach her eyes. With both of them worried about the silence, it was starting to get on her nerves too.

"No," the Doctor said from the terminal, still working on it. "I never land on Sundays. Sundays are boring."

"Well, maybe everyone's really, really quiet." It was Donna's turn to rub her arms, feeling a chill that wasn't wholly related to the breeze.

"Yeah, maybe." The Doctor had finally gotten results, and was very unhappy with them. "But they'd still show up on the system."

Jenny, in an attempt to distract herself from her dark thoughts, decided to try and discover now why they'd been sidetracked to a library-world. "Dad, why are we here?"

"Oh, you know, just passing," he replied, rather distracted as he was working the terminal still.

Donna snorted and took the chance to prod the Doctor too. Mostly because she wanted to find out what had been on the psychic paper that had made him bring them here. "No, Doctor, seriously. It was all 'let's hit the beach', then suddenly you're pulling out the psychic paper like it'd burnt you and we're at the Library. Why?" Donna had her arms folded again, and the fingers of one hand were tapping her bicep.

The Doctor didn't notice any of the signs of Donna's irritation though, as he'd hit on something in his meddling with the terminal. And what he'd found had made him forget she was on the verge of a scold entirely. "Ooh, now that's interesting."

Jenny slipped up behind her dad to look around his arm, Donna following. "What's interesting, Dad?" And, she thought, it'd better be interesting too, or she'd smack him with a book for dodging their questions. She might even beat Mum out for that, if Dad didn't have a good answer.

He shot a quick grin at his daughter, then returned to the screen. "Scanning for life forms. If I do a scan looking for your basic humanoids - you know, your book readers, few limbs and a face -" He slouched his shoulders so they could both see the terminal screen display of **filtered humanoid lifeform scan; 3; complete**. "apart from us, I get nothing. Zippo, nada, see? Nobody home. But if I widen the parameters to _any_ kind of life..." He worked at the keys again, and numbers flashed on the screen too quickly to register, until it flipped to a halt and displayed **error; .000; lifeform number capped at maximum record**. "A million million. Gives up after that. A million million."

"But Dad, there's nothing here. There's no one anywhere." Jenny said, glancing around the now not quite so innocent-looking room nervously. Was it something invisible? A million million invisible somethings? And were those somethings watching them right now?

"And not a sound. A million million life forms, and silence in the library." The Doctor glanced at his girls, and then around the room they were in. A million million life forms, and only three of them accounted for. But at least he had the start of why he'd been called to the Library, if not the 'who'.

"But there's really no-one here." Donna said, glancing warily around the room. "There's just books. I mean, it's not the books, is it? I mean, it can't be the books, can it? I mean, books can't be alive...can they?" Oh, she hoped not - if it was live books... oh, she didn't want to think about books eating people at all! Not seriously anyway - that was so the plot of a crap movie though - one she'd enjoy watching with her little family, actually. Pity this wasn't a movie they could watch after their trip to the beach.

The three of them shared a nervous glance, and then the Doctor cautiously reached toward a book. Just before he touched it, a voice said "Welcome!", and made all three of them jump together.

"That came from in there!" Donna said with one hand on her chest, trying to calm down from the shock and surprise of a voice from nowhere.

"It did!" Jenny cried out, and just barely stayed ahead of her parents as the three of them all ran back up the stairs to the reception room. "Huh. That statue's moved...it's got a face," she said, frowning as they all skidded to a halt.

The statue spoke, with the same voice that had earlier called out the welcome. "I am Courtesy Node 710/aqua. Please enjoy the Library and respect the personal access codes of all your fellow readers regardless of species or hygiene taboo."

Jenny rolled her eyes as her mum started having a fit about the statue having a face. The face wasn't important; right now, what was important was that they had a part of this empty Library they could actually ask questions of. She approached it cautiously, not quite trusting it, and jumped just the tiniest bit in surprise as it spoke up again without a prompt.

"Additional. There follows a brief message from the head librarian for your urgent attention. It has been edited for tone and content by Felman Lux Automated Decency Filter. Message follows. 'Run. For God's sake, run. No way is safe. The Library has sealed itself, we can't... Oh, they're here. Arg. Slarg. Snick.' Message ends. Please switch off your mobile comm units for the comfort of other readers."

"Well, that explains why we're here," The Doctor murmured, then shot a look at the Node, despite knowing it wasn't really capable of thought. "Any other messages, same date stamp?"

The Node responded in a rather affirmative way, even if it did - to the Doctor and Jenny's way of thinking - ramble a bit. "One additional message. This message carries a Felman Lux coherency warning of 5, 0, 11-"

The Doctor rolled his eyes and interrupted the Node's automatic decency filter thingummy. "Yeah, yeah, fine, fine, fine, just play it."

The Node didn't seem to notice the Doctor's interruption, much to Donna's amusement. Well, at least she was smiling until the Node replayed the message. Then she was wishing she could ask for a hug. "Message follows. "Count the shadows. For God's sake, remember... if you want to live, count the shadows." Message ends."

As though reading Donna's mind, the Doctor pulled her and Jenny closer to him, though he didn't give either of them hugs. He was too nervous to. "Donna, Jenny...stay out of the shadows."

Jenny and Donna both asked what was in the shadows, and both stayed close to the Doctor as they walked through a door and into a large, long aisle...because he didn't answer the question.

Donna rather thought she preferred it that way for now, actually, because if she knew what was in the shadows, she couldn't finish nagging an explanation for their side-trip out of him. Which was important actually, because it was why they were here in the seriously creepy Library. "So, are you going to tell us about that message you got on the psychic paper? Might help, you know."

They went through another door and arrived in an aisle between bookshelves, several floors high, reaching as far as they can see.

"Yeah...well, there's the thing. All I got was this message-" He pulled the psychic paper out and showed it to his girls: _The Library. Come as soon as you can. x_ "See? Seemed like a cry for help, don't you think?"

Donna rolled her eyes and pushed the Doctor's hand away when she'd finished reading the short message. "Cry for help - with a kiss?"

"Oh, we've all done that," he replied to Donna, but got sidetracked afterwards in trying to explain to Jenny why an 'x' meant a kiss in a written message.

Donna rolled her eyes - she could've explained it all a lot faster - then she asked a more important question. "So, who's it from? I don't think many people know how to send messages by psychic paper, after all."

"No idea, really," he sighed and shook his head. "Last time I got a message on the psychic paper, it was from a mysterious alien. Ended up shutting down an entire hospital because they'd grown a whole race of people to use to develop cures for diseases from."

"While I'm sure that was fascinating, Dad, why'd you decide to bring us here? Because of the message? Or is there something else going on here? Are we-"

"Oh my God!" Donna inadvertently interrupted Jenny with her exclamation, and pointed to the far end of the aisle they were on...where the lights were going out one by one, but rather quickly. "What's happening?"

Eyes wide, the Doctor grabbed his daughter and his ginger by the arms and almost threw them down the aisle ahead of him. "Run!"

And the three of them ran until they reached a dead end, with the only possible escape a double door. The Doctor grabbed the handles and tugged at them, but the doors stayed stubbornly shut. "Come on!" He growled and yanked again.

"What, is it locked?" Donna asked, watching him struggle with the door. Meanwhile, Jenny was keeping an eye on the encroaching darkness caused by the mysteriously-extinguishing lights.

"Jammed! The wood's warped!" He snapped back, shifting his attention to yanking on one half of the door while pushing on the other half.

"Better try the sonic on it or something Dad, we're running out of light!" Jenny backed into Donna, eyes wide with an instinctual fear she didn't understand as the lights kept putting themselves out. And she couldn't fight back if she couldn't see the enemy, which really didn't help her control the fear she felt.

Donna glanced up as Jenny ran into her, then made a 'tuh' of exasperation and pushed the Doctor aside. "Oh, get out of the way!" She applied a good swift kick to the door which popped it open, and the three of them darted into the room, the Doctor whirling about to shut the door and use a book to bolt it shut.

While her dad was busy making sure whatever it was couldn't follow them, Jenny's attention was drawn by an odd sphere with a camera lens. She tugged her mum's sleeve, then motioned to it with her head, just about when Dad finished with the door.

Door secure, the Doctor turned about, saw what his girls were looking at, and smiled brightly. "Oh! Hello! Sorry to burst on you like this. OK if we stop here for a bit?" He blinked as the sphere they three had been looking at irised it's lens shut and fell to the floor.

"Doctor, what is that?" Donna asked, sticking beside him for the moment. Jenny came up on his other side and peered at the sphere as her dad picked it up.

"Security camera. Switched itself off." He pulled out the sonic screwdriver and started scanning the camera. "Ahh...nice door skills, Donna."

Donna shrugged and looked around the room. "Yeah, well, you know, boyfriends... sometimes you need the element of surprise. What was that, what was after us? I mean, did we just run away from a power cut?" It was well-lit enough for now, she thought, but still, it was a bit darker than she'd prefer. Especially after that Node had told them to count the shadows...

"Possibly." The Doctor replied absently, his attention partly on the security camera and partly on telepathically explaining to Jenny what he was doing.

"But Doctor...are we safe here?" Donna asked and almost bumped into Jenny as she moved closer to her odd little family. "I mean really, are we safe?"

He glanced up from the camera and flashed a smile at his ginger. "Course we're safe. There's a little shop." The tone of the sonic changed and he returned his attention to the camera, whilst Donna's had wandered to the little shop. "Aha! Gotcha!"

Jenny blinked at the screen above the lens, where words were scrolling. _No, stop it, no, no_ "Dad? That camera's talking to us."

"Ooh, I'm sorry. I really am, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He gently put the camera down and looked up at Jenny and Donna. "It's alive, that's why it's talking to us."

Donna blinked at the camera, then looked at the Doctor. "But...you said it was a security camera."

"It is." he replied with a solemn look. "It's an alive one."

"But you don't mean it counts as a life form, do you Dad?" Jenny asked, wondering if the camera would appreciate an apologetic pat. "I mean, the camera doesn't count as one of those million million life-forms, does it?" She caught a flash of red on the camera, and frowned at the screen, trying to see what it was doing now.

"Naah, it's as much a part of the Library as the terminals are. This isn't one of our mysterious life forms, sorry." He noticed Jenny frowning at the camera and bent down to take a closer look. The screen above the lens was now displaying: _Others are coming. The Library is breached. Others are coming_.

Donna joined them too late to see most of the message, and asked. "Others? What's it mean, 'others'?" When the Doctor couldn't do anything but shrug, she went over to the Node statue in the room. It had a different face, but she thought it'd do to answer a question, anyway. "Excuse me, what does it mean, 'others'?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes and scoffed while he stood up from examining the camera's latest message. "That's barely more than a speak your weight machine, it can't help you."

"So why's it got a face then?" Donna sniped back, letting some of her fear out as annoyance. She just didn't expect the answer she got from the Node, in a rather pleasant male voice.

"This flesh aspect was donated by Mark Chambers on the occasion of his death."

Donna stared at the Node in shock, flabbergasted and beginning to be upset. "It's a real face?!"

"It has been actualised individually for you from the many facial aspects saved to our extensive flesh banks. Please enjoy." The Node used it's face to smile politely at Donna, but she didn't notice.

She was far too busy being shocked and trying to get an answer from something that could explain things better. Or rather, someone. "It chose me a dead face it thought I'd like? That statue's got a real dead person's face on it!"

"It's the 51st century, that's... basically like donating a park bench." And that, he thought, should be the end of it. Yes, it was a bit of a shock at first, but Donna was flexible - she should be able to accept that customs change in the future...right?

Jenny wrinkled her nose and rolled her eyes at her dad's casual comment. Then she snorted and shook her head, trying to help her mum calm down, because she was pretty close to panicking. "Dad, it's apples and oranges. A park bench is nothing like a face."

Donna hadn't noticed Jenny's joining the conversation; she was too busy trying to wrap her mind around the idea blatantly and casually presented to her on a statue. "It's donating a face!" In disgust and more than a bit of horror, she backed away from the Node, wishing she'd never gone to ask it a question in the first place.

The Doctor's eyes widened in fear as he saw what she was backing toward, and he leapt to grab Donna by the waist, crying out. "No, wait, no!"

"Oi! Hands!" Donna smacked his hands off her, trying not to let how pleasant she thought his pulling her to him affect her. Not when there was so much weirdness going on...she could deal with that later.

He didn't even react to being smacked, other than letting her go once he had her safe. Even then, he kept his focus on something behind her. "The shadow, look." He said, softly, after he'd edged her around.

"Count the shadows," Jenny murmured as she joined her parents. "One shadow, that Mum almost stepped into...but what's casting it? Shadows need light and an object to exist, don't they Dad? So where's the object that's casting it?"

The three of them looked around, but on being unable to identify a source, the Doctor banged his hands against his head in frustration. "Oh! I'm thick! Look at me, I'm old and thick! Head's too full of stuff, I need a bigger head!"

Donna, who'd jumped when the Doctor shouted, looked around the room again, then gestured down a dimly lit hall, with one light fading on and off, as though the power were going or the bulb was slowly dying. "Power must be going."

The Doctor shook his head, staring down the same hall with a frown. "This place runs on fission cells. They'll outburn the sun."

Donna backed a step or two away from the hall, and - while trying to keep the fear out of her voice - asked. "Then why is it dark?"

"It's not dark," The Doctor replied, and would have said more save for Jenny interrupting with a startled expletive. One that would have her Nan reaching for soap to wash her mouth out with...if she understood Gallifreyan.

Jenny blushed a bit when her parents turned to look at her, but more at her dad's raised eyebrow, then pointed. "Look! The shadow's gone! And Dad, it was gone between one blink and the next."

"We need to get back to the TARDIS." Pale and thin-lipped, the Doctor collected two of the three most important girls in his universe and pulled them close to him. "Because that shadow hasn't gone. It's moved."

The Node chimed in abruptly, making Jenny and Donna both jump and pull closer to the Doctor. "Reminder: the Library has been breached, others are coming. Reminder: the Library has been breached, others are coming. Reminder: the Library has been breached..."

The attention of the trio was tugged away from the Node by a door banging open. They turned to look as six people in spacesuits ambled in as though there wasn't anything to fear. Perhaps they were taking their cue from their leader, who sauntered over to the Doctor and his girls, switched her visor to transparent and smiled at the Doctor.

"Hello sweetie."


	8. Chapter 8:  The Shadows are Alive...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the BBC, not RTD, not the Moff. Thus, I don't own them, I just play with their toys :D
> 
> AN: This chapter has been actualised individually from the many potential variants donated by the author's muse. Please, enjoy.
> 
> Second chapter updated... four more to go to finish the Library!
> 
> Love to tkelparis, as always, for beta-work above and beyond. At least this time she didn't have to watch the episode multiple times for me :) Love ya tkel!
> 
> And love to all my reviewers and readers!

* * *

 

Jenny scowled at the woman who'd called her dad 'Sweetie', but before she could say anything, scathing or otherwise, her dad shouted and made her jump just a bit from the surprise.

"Get out!" The Doctor was glaring at the woman he didn't know who had the gall to A: be here, and 2: call him a sickening endearment, and barely noticed Donna coming up beside him.

"Doctor," she murmured, putting a hand on his arm. And rolled her eyes when he ignored her in favor of ranting at the newcomers, and absently shook off her hand. She shook her head and looked over at Jenny - then stepped away from that infuriating, attractive idiot to take her daughter by the hand and tug her away from another shadow that was six inches away from her heel. "Don't forget, sweetheart, keep an eye on the shadows."

They both looked at where she'd been and Jenny gulped hard when she realised the shadow had moved again. "I hate this, Mum," she hissed. "How can we properly keep out of the shadows if they're always moving? And how do we fight a foe we can't touch?"

"I don't know," Donna murmured, while the Doctor continued trying to convince the newly-arrived group to leave. "Your dad'll figure it out though...if he gets the time to think about it." She frowned as the leader of the group took off her helmet, revealing an attractive, lived-in face surmounted by a high ponytail of blonde ringlets. She turned her attention away from the smug-looking woman and rubbed her arms as she kept an eye out for the shadows trying to move yet again.

"Maybe if we had more...or maybe brighter lights," Jenny replied, eyes on the group that was keeping them from leaving. And she snorted when one of them asked if they were androids - honestly, couldn't the woman see their chests rising and falling with their breathing? Androids didn't do that unless specifically programmed to...and why would anyone bother to program breathing into androids for a library? Maybe that woman who was doing most of the talking would explain it to her subordinate...

"Cos I've dated androids." The leader said with a salacious smirk that might fit better on a certain Captain Jack Harkness' face - at least in the Doctor's opinion. "They're rubbish."

"Who is this?" A somewhat tubby, balding man blustered as he removed his helmet. "You said we were the only expedition, I paid for exclusives."

"I lied, I'm always lying. Bound to be others." The woman was still smirking, although it had shifted from salacious to amused as she turned back to the Doctor and away from her annoying backer. "You came through the north door, yeah? How was that, much damage?"

As the tubby fellow started barking at a very pretty young girl about contracts, Jenny leaned in close to her mum and murmured. "That doesn't sound very good. She just said she's always lying, yet she's supposed to be leading this expedition. Lying leaders get soldiers - or team members - killed. Especially when they can't trust what she says."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. But it depends on what she lies about, and whether she ever lies about the really important stuff. She could be more like your dad than she seems, and he does lie a lot. Mostly to keep me from prying into touchy subjects or panicking, I'll admit, but he's pulled some whoppers while we were saving people."

"Her? Like Dad?" Jenny snorted, and wished that annoying woman would back away from her dad some. No one but family should stand that close to him unless he was actively saving her life.

"Oi. Never judge anyone till you've gotten to know them a bit." Donna eyed the woman who was paying far too much attention to her Spaceman, then shook her head. He wasn't hers, not in that sense, so the jealousy about a stranger standing so close was really rather pointless. Now, if she could just convince herself of that... "Never know - under all that innuendo and smarmy smugness, she might be a nice person. Come on now, lets get closer so we don't miss anything." They both eyed the shadows though, as they rejoined the Doctor and the expedition leader.

The Doctor heaved a sigh. "Please, just leave. I'm asking you seriously and properly, just lea...hang on. Did you say expedition?" He scowled at the woman and the others, especially the chubby fellow who was the first to mention it.

"My expedition," the man replied with a modicum of pride. "I funded it." He then busied himself with his assistant again and ignored the Doctor.

"Oh, you're not, are you?" The Doctor almost whined as he turned back to the woman who was still a trifle too close to him. "Tell me you're not archaeologists."

"Got a problem with archaeologists?" The woman raised an eyebrow. The Doctor wrinkled his nose and tried to keep the look of disdain off his face. He really tried...but it didn't quite work. "I'm a time traveller. I point and laugh at archaeologists."

Jenny stepped away from her parents, carefully watching for more sourceless shadows, and started approaching the new arrivals. They had to be warned, and she'd have better results if she was closer. She sighed as she heard the leader finally identify herself and edged around a shadow, closer to the group.

"Ah. Professor River Song, archaeologist." She had a hint of a curious frown on her face though; almost as though she expected the Doctor to have recognised her.

"River Song, lovely name. As you're leaving - and you're leaving now - you need to set up a quarantine beacon." He reached out and turned River Song around to face the rest of her group, in a precursor to gently pushing her away from him. "Code-wall the planet, the whole planet. Nobody comes here, not ever again... not one living thing, not here, not ever."

While her dad was talking to the archaeologist, Jenny noticed the cafe-au-lait-toned woman walking toward the shadows. "Hey! You there, hold still a minute!" She closed the distance and gave the woman a half-smile. "What's your name?"

"Anita." The nervous Anita looked at Jenny warily, but she did stop moving. And Anita not moving was Jenny's goal.

"Anita, nice to meet you. I'm Jenny. Now I want you to pay attention to me. Actually," Jenny raised her voice, but kept her attention on the shadows Anita had been about to step into. "All of you need to pay attention, if you're not my parents. Stay out of the shadows. Before you lot showed up, we were warned about the shadows. Count them, stay out of them. So find a nice bright spot and stay in it if you're not going to go back to your ship." Jenny scowled at the blank looks and rolled her eyes as she huffed. "Oh for..."

"They're in a nice bright spot, and they're not moving, that will do for now." The Doctor raised an eyebrow at his daughter to finish heading off the Donna-style rant almost in progress, then walked over to join her and patted her shoulder. _Good catch, little star. I'm proud of you_.

_Thanks Dad_. Jenny smiled up at her dad, then carefully made her way back to her mum while he started talking to one of the men.

"Okay, you," he said to the younger of the two men who seemed like he was actually part of the workforce - nice looking, likely lad with a bushy afro hairstyle. "Who are you?"

"Uh, Dave." was the response, along with a look that almost seemed to wonder if the bloke in the pinstripes had escaped from a sanatorium lately.

"Okay, Dave-" the Doctor blinked as he was interrupted by a rather long winded explanation that there were actually two Daves, and the one he had was Other Dave because Proper Dave was apparently the somewhat stodgy-looking pilot. He rolled his eyes and took Other Dave back to the door his team had just come through, and gestured through it. "So, Other Dave...this way you came, does it look the same as before?"

Other Dave glanced down the hall. "Yeah." Then he looked again, paying more attention this time. "Oh wait...it's a bit darker than it was."

"How much darker?" The Doctor asked as he peered down the hall, trying to use his more sensitive senses to detect whatever might be down there. Didn't work of course - there wasn't anything moving, and he couldn't hear anything either. And with so many minds around, he was going to keep his telepathy to himself, his daughter and his TARDIS. Best not to have any accidental slip-ups in case one of them started broadcasting. Or died unexpectedly.

Other Dave shrugged. "Oh, like I could see where we came through just like a moment ago. I can't now." He jumped as his shoulder was clapped, then turned to look at the Doctor, who was walking away as he spoke.

"Seal up this door," he said over his shoulder. "We'll find another way out of here." He was very much afraid that he knew what the problem was, but he didn't have all the pieces as to why the problem was such a problem yet, and it made him nervous. Perhaps, he thought very quietly as he rejoined the group, he should have just ignored the message on the psychic paper and taken his girls to the beach after all.

"We're not looking for a way out," scoffed Mr. Lux. "Miss Evangelista? The contracts."

The extremely pretty Miss Evangelista stepped over to the Doctor and his girls with papers in hand, and handed them each a copy with a nervous little speech, then stood back with eyes wide as all three of them - Jenny lagging only a half-second behind - tore their contracts into little pieces. She scooted away as her boss started protesting, then started fidgeting when Professor Song shut him down.

Meanwhile, the Doctor was being confronted by River Song again. "You think there's danger here?" she asked.

For all of five picoseconds, the Doctor tried not to be sarcastic. But it wasn't worth it, not with this mystery woman who apparently thought there wasn't such a thing as personal space. And here he'd thought that he was past that, now that he had Donna. "Something came to this Library and killed everything in it, killed a whole world. Danger? Could be." He resisted a smirk when he heard Donna muffle a snort, but it was a harder battle to fight the smirk with Jenny's mental additions regarding smug idiots in his head.

"That was a hundred years ago. The Library's been silent for a hundred years. Whatever came here is long dead." River was looking at the Doctor, and missed Jenny's eyeroll.

"Mum," Jenny whispered softly. "Why do some people never listen? She's only been told it's dangerous here several times now. Why does she keep thinking it isn't?"

"Dunno, sweetheart. Maybe she's not paying attention, maybe she's got information that we don't that might be misleading her." Donna shrugged, watching the interplay between the Doctor and River Song, then rolled her eyes and snorted when they finished talking for a moment. "Course, she might just be too busy flirting with your dad to pay attention to the fact that it's dangerous here."

"Well she shouldn't be flirting with Dad." Jenny grumbled and glowered at River Song while her dad went off to get a torch from that annoying Mister Lux. And, very quietly, muttered under her breath. "She doesn't have the right."

"He can't help it - it's like this face of his was made to get women crushing on him." Donna patted her daughter's shoulder with a sigh, not having heard the addendum Jenny had added. "Come on, sweetheart, lets go see what he's onto now."

As they walked back to her dad, Jenny frowned at her mum's back. Had she meant that she was crushing on Dad too, like she ought to be, or was she just not interested in him that way? Had she read everything between them wrong, being so new to life? But then, did that mean that Nan and Great-Gramps were reading it all wrong too? Oh, life was so confusing! Especially when it came to parents!

The Doctor took a moment to quirk a tiny smile at Donna and Jenny as they approached him, then motioned for them to stay put before he returned his attention to lighting up the dark corners of the room with the torch. "Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark. But they're wrong. Cos it's not irrational. It's Vashta Nerada."

Donna frowned and glanced around the room, making sure there weren't any shadows to step into, then asked. "What's Vashta Nerada?"

"It's what's in the dark. It's what's always in the dark." He said as he rejoined them, then herded them back to the best-lit spot in the room. "Lights! That's what we need, lights! You got lights?"

"What for?" River Song queried curiously.

"For light, obviously." Jenny snorted, then set aside her pother about her parents in favour of glaring at River, whose only reaction was to raise an eyebrow.

"Form a circle, safe area, big as you can, lights pointing out." The Doctor ordered, then glanced at Jenny while River Song took over directing her little team to do as he'd said. _Jenny, I need you focused on helping me, not being annoyed with people. All right?_

_Sorry Dad. She just...irritates me with how smug she is. And flirting with you when you've already said it's dangerous here. Honestly, there's a time and a place...doesn't she know that yet_? Jenny frowned and followed her dad over to the weirdly-named Proper Dave and the terminal he was beginning to work on, with her mum trailing behind.

_And there's a time and a place for scolding a flirt, and this isn't it at the moment, little star_. He turned to face her and lifted his hands to touch her face, then when the information transfer was done, dropped his hands to her shoulders to steady her a moment. _Now here - this is everything I know about the Vashta Nerada. Think over it - your fresh mind and perspective might unearth something I may miss with my old head too full of stuff_. He gave his daughter a bit of a smile, then, ignoring River Song calling out for a 'Pretty Boy', turned to Proper Dave."Here, probably I can help you with that."

_You keep saying that, but it's all that 'stuff' that helps you figure things out_. But she didn't continue arguing - he was right, there really was a time and a place for everything, and right now her place was assimilating everything he knew about the Vashta Nerada, and use everything she knew to see if there was any advantage to be winkled from it. She had her mum to protect from these creatures after all. Now if that River Song would just quit flirting with her dad and being so distracting...

From the desk she'd walked to on the other side of the room, River Song called out again, looking straight at the Doctor. "Pretty Boy, with me I said."

At the terminal beside Proper Dave, the Doctor's eyebrows raised in surprise and he blinked in dumbfounded astonishment, though his nose wrinkled a bit as though he was catching a whiff of something putrid. Why did this regeneration make nearly every woman call him 'pretty'? He wasn't at all effeminate...was he? "Oh, I'm Pretty Boy?"

"Yes." Donna said with some speed, then blushed and muttered. "Ooh, that came out a bit quick!"

"Pretty?!" The Doctor blinked in astonishment again, but this time at Donna. "You think I'm pretty?" Was it possible? Was she changing her mind from 'none of that nonsense' to possibly considering being more than just mates? And what would he do if the answer was yes? And did he really have time to think about this with Vashta Nerada on the loose? Not really, so he'd best just shut that train of thought down until he'd gotten everyone safe - especially Donna and Jenny.

"Meh." Donna shrugged, still blushing. And she sighed as the Doctor walked away, tossing orders to the rest of the group about not letting their shadows cross. This was _so_ not the time to start admitting out loud that she really truly was finding her best mate properly attractive in every way. Knowing she was useless with technical stuff of this era, she left Jenny by Proper Dave - missing the big grin her daughter had sprouted - and went off toward Anita and Other Dave, just in time to hear them brush Miss Evangelista off after she'd offered to help.

She huffed as the poor girl wandered away dejectedly, then frowned at Other Dave and Anita. "Couldn't she help? It'd make the work go faster."

Other Dave shook his head, smiling wryly. "Trust me. I just spent four days on a ship with that woman. She's..."

Anita picked it up with an amused smirk. "She couldn't tell the difference between the escape pod and the bathroom. We had to go back for her. Twice."

"Yeah, and maybe you could've labelled the escape pod as different from the bathroom when it happened the first time. Besides, holding things isn't complicated." Donna stared at the two of them a moment more, then shrugged. "No, course not, just keep doing it all yourselves. Do try not to let your shadows cross while you're passing lights back and forth, yeah?" She made her way back to Jenny, muttering under her breath. "Blimey, fifty-first century and people are still vicious when they've got piece of paper saying they're smart."

She watched Proper Dave work for a few minutes, then noticed Jenny wasn't looking at what he was doing. She was looking at her dad and that River Song instead, a frown on her face. "Sweetheart, your dad can take care of himself. C'mon, leave them be."

Jenny sighed and turned to look at her mum, interrupting her lip-reading, but she needed to tell her mum that she wasn't just spying. But she couldn't say what she wanted to around Proper Dave, so, watching the shadows, she led her mum off a few feet. "She acts like she knows him, Mum. Like they've done things together before - she's got diary entries of a bloody picnic of all things! But Dad doesn't know her...and I don't know what's going on with that. And I don't like not knowing what's going on."

Donna grinned wryly and smoothed her hand over her daughter's taut shoulder to try and get her to relax. "Blimey, you're going to hate Christmas then, and all the secrets."

Jenny rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling back at her mum. "Well, maybe. Probably. Whatever Christmas is. But that's not important right now." She tugged her mum back to Proper Dave - with what she now knew about the Vashta Nerada, she wanted to keep them both in as much light as possible. Hmm...possibly if they enhanced the lights to be much stronger, maybe it could be a weapon...no. They'd try and figure out another way first, and only if everything else failed, then she'd bring the idea of turning lights into a weapon up. She'd still keep in mind how to enhance a torch to be much, much stronger though, even though it would need a sonic screwdriver to do it. Just in case.

Before she could start spying on her dad and River Song again though, a weird noise started sounding. It got everyone's attention, and even drew her dad away from that woman, thankfully.

"Sorry, that was me." Proper Dave said somewhat sheepishly. "Trying to get through into the security protocols, I seem to have set something off. What is that? Is that an alarm?"

Donna's eyes widened as the noise continued. It sounded so familiar - could it be? "Doctor? Doctor, that sounds like..."

He smiled at her as he joined them. "It is. It's a phone!" Now, why would the alarm on the data core sound like a phone? Unless it wasn't an alarm...oh, but that was ridiculous! Who could they accidentally be calling, here in the empty Library?

"I'm trying to call up the data core, but it's not responding. Just that noise." Proper Dave looked properly befuddled, but he wasn't alone. So did Jenny, who, unknowingly, was wondering the same thing as her dad. How could they accidentally call someone from the Library? And why did it sound like a twenty-first century phone, like the one that had startled her so on one of their visits to Nan and Great-Gramps?

And so did Donna, but hers was hidden by astonishment. "But it's a phone!"

"Let me try something." The Doctor said and tapped at the keyboard, only to get the screen flashing the symbol he'd seen earlier on the security camera, overlaid with 'ACCESS DENIED'. "Okay, doesn't like that, let's try something else."

He kept working at it until the screen changed and lost focus, as though it was trying to pull in a signal. "OK, here it comes." But what he got was something that none of the people in the library expected. The image of a little girl in a living room, peering at the screen curiously. The Doctor blinked twice, then said. "Hello?"

"Hello," the little girl replied, an inquisitive look on her face. "Are you in my television?"

The Doctor frowned curiously, head tilted to the side a bit as he replied. "Well no, I'm...I'm sort of in space. I was trying to call up the data core of a triple-grid security processor."

"Would you like to speak to my dad?" The girl shifted as though to get up, but the expression on her face was almost a speaking one, that would say 'I'm getting my dad to deal with the crazy man in the television', were it to be verbalised.

"Dad or your mum, that'd be lovely," he replied. His long-fingered hands rested on the keys of the terminal, but he didn't apply pressure to any, not while he was still able to communicate with the latest mystery attached to the Library. Why was a call routed to a little girl when he was trying to access the security processor? And, more importantly, how?

Suddenly the little girl stopped, and leaned closer to the television, eyes wide with surprise as belated recognition kicked in. "I know you! You were in my Library!"

Just like the little girl, the Doctor's eyes were also wide in surprise, and he subconsciously leaned closer to the terminal screen. "Your Library?" Definitely a connection here, he thought, but what was it? What did this little girl have to do with the Library?

"The Library's never been on television before." There was a confused frown on the girl's face now as she asked. "What have you done?"

"Ah, I... I just rerouted the interface..." The screen fuzzed and faded, and the Doctor typed frantically away at the keys, but it was useless. There was that dratted 'ACCESS DENIED' sign again. He broke away and ran across the room to the desk River had pulled him over to, leaving Donna and Jenny behind again.

"Okay, that was weird," Donna said as she watched him run off babbling about needing another terminal. "Don't know what that was all about, with that little girl."

"It was weird," Jenny agreed, watching River follow her dad after chivvying the rest of her group into getting back to the lights. "But this whole place is weird. A million million invisible life forms, which are probably the Vashta Nerada, this expedition...that little girl's just another piece of weirdness." She started pacing carefully, always keeping an eye on the shadows while she tried, to no avail, to make any of the bits they knew about make sense.

Then books started flying about the room, like they were being thrown by invisible people. Jenny made sure her mum was safely ducked down, then she stood dodging the books while watching where they came from to see if she could detect whatever was throwing them. "What's doing that?" She wondered aloud, after hearing her dad and Proper Dave deny doing anything with the computers that might have triggered it. "There's nothing there to throw the books!"

"I dunno sweetheart," Donna said as she got up - or was finally allowed up, rather - after the books stopped flying about. Overprotective Time Lords - blimey, didn't they realise she could take care of herself? Yeah, flying books were weird and could bruise - or worst case, knock someone out - but she'd met Pyroviles and Sontarans, and those were lots more dangerous. She glanced around, noticed Miss Evangelista on the verge of panic, and absently patted Jenny's shoulder as she left her daughter's side to go calm the poor girl down.

Left behind, Jenny took the opportunity to rejoin her dad, because River Song was standing too close again. "Dad? Have you got any idea what made the books go flying?"

"Nope," he replied, still working away at the terminal, despite its' display of 'ACCESS DENIED' surmounted by 'CAL'. "But it's not the Vashta Nerada."

"I didn't think it was," Jenny quirked a bit of a smile, then leaned in to watch her dad at work, ignoring River. "So, that's new. What's CAL?"

"Dunno." He tapped a few more keys, then stopped to run his hand through his hair as more books started flying.

"What's causing that?" River asked with a frown, as everyone started ducking books again. "Is it the little girl?"

"But who is the little girl? And what's she got to do with the Library?" Again he ruffled his hair with his hands, and automatically checked to see if Donna was all right.

"She did imply that it was her Library, Dad." Jenny noted as she checked on her mum too. "There's something there, I just can't put a finger on it...maybe she's been getting broadcasts somehow? Maybe from the security cameras?"

"Not a clue, Jenny, but that is an idea." the Doctor replied as he turned to face River Song. "How does the data core work? What's the principle?" The books stopped flying about again, and he frowned around the room, trying to figure out what was causing the impromptu flights of literature.

"Ask Mr. Lux." River replied, then followed the Doctor, along with Jenny, to confront the man of the hour.

"CAL," the Doctor said with no preamble as he confronted Mr. Lux. "What is it?"

Mr. Lux seemed not in the mood to cooperate, Jenny thought as she watched her dad talk to him. More like he wanted to be smug about something. "Sorry. You didn't sign your personal experience contracts."

Jenny could've cheered when her dad narrowed his eyes and squared his shoulders, pulling up a bit of the 'Oncoming Storm' look.

"Mr Lux, right now, you're in more danger than you've ever been in your whole life. And you're protecting a patent?"

Felman Lux drew himself up and stood tall as he could, somehow resisting the intimidation. "I'm protecting my family's pride."

"Well, funny thing, Mr Lux, I don't want to see everyone in this room dead because some idiot thinks his pride is more important."

Jenny nodded in agreement with her father as he continued squaring off against Mr. Lux. Unfortunately for the point her dad was trying to make, River chimed in at that point, wondering why he didn't sign the offered contract. Which was followed by a comment that she was getting worse than he was, which made Jenny roll her eyes and step away from the lot of them. She didn't need to listen to some weird woman trying to shove her way into their family, thanks much.

And as for the information her dad was trying to winkle out of River Song and Mr. Lux...well, she could hear everything just fine from where she was. Meanwhile, Jenny was trying to make everything tumbling about in her head make sense. So there were Vashta Nerada swarming the Library - the whole planet in fact. So Vashta Nerada were minute beings that swarmed together on planets to clean up whatever died in the dark. So what were they doing on a planet that was pretty much one massive collection of buildings?

While Jenny was off by herself thinking, Donna found herself splitting her attention between her daughter and the Doctor. Of course, he was busy talking with River Flirt and Mr. Lux, but she thought it might be important that she have a listen in. And it might prove to be important later, that there was a hidden data extract that came with the last message from the Library. Although what '4022 saved. No survivors.' meant was anyone's guess at this point. Still, it piqued her curiosity, so she had to ask. "But how can 4022 people have been saved if there were no survivors?"

Except it was that River Song that answered, instead of the Doctor. "That's what we're here to find out." Blasted woman, couldn't she understand that Donna had wanted the Doctor to answer the question? Even an 'I don't know' from him was more reassuring than anyone else's solid facts.

Just after Mr. Lux had had his say - and blimey did he sound disappointed that they hadn't found any bodies! - there was a scream from somewhere that startled everyone, and sent them all running down a new passage, trying to find the source of such an agonised sound.


	9. Chapter 9: Whatever Shall We Do With The Oncoming Swarm?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I owned any part of this, I'd be famous and being paid to attend conventions instead of sighing wistfully whenever I can't afford to attend one.
> 
> Author's note: Life sucks. But I'm not going to reiterate the details, you've all been waiting long enough for this.
> 
> Halfway through the Library now... but oh is transferring a lot of time-consuming work.
> 
> Yes, I did completely marginalise Miss Evangelista in this. Sorry. And for everyone who has been worried regarding the Doctor and Donna getting together... just remember. River Song is in the far, far future as far as the Doctor and Donna are concerned. As always, love to tkelparis who continues to ensure that I don't have to emulate a thousand monkeys to produce something more than legible. *mwah!*
> 
> Love to all you ever-so-patient reviewers and readers!

* * *

 

 

Jenny had been the first to bolt for the mysterious new passage when that horrible scream rang out, and so she was the first to skid to a halt in what might have been a lecture room of some sort. As she heard her dad enter, followed by Mum and everyone else, she cautiously approached the skeleton in a chair in the centre of the room and frowned at it's tattered space-suit. Either new arrivals to the Library used to not bother with taking off their space suits, or one of their group had just gotten separated and...well, eaten. And since she hadn't seen Miss Evangelista since before that scream echoed around, the odds were high that the skeleton could be her.

She could hear her dad approaching, so in an attempt to forestall the lecture she knew she was going to get for not letting him go first, she sighed and said. "Dad? You know how they were talking about not having found any bodies?" Pausing to check for shadows, she turned and stepped to the side so everyone else could see the skeleton too. "I think we've got one now."

_We'll talk later about your running off, Jenny_ , he scolded her telepathically as he strode over, took her by the shoulder and tugged her close to him while verbally ordering everyone else to stay in the light for the Nth time. _If you'd been a few seconds faster..._

_I had to, Dad. I'm faster than you, and there was a bare chance I could have helped_. She didn't resist his handing her off to Mum for a scolding though - despite his attempts to hide his fear, she'd caught a glimpse of what could have happened, and...well, she didn't want to end up with her flesh stripped from her bones. Even though she would put herself in harms' way again at need. She just couldn't help her soldierly instincts to take the danger on herself.

Ordinarily the Doctor would smirk at how well Donna could scold in a whisper - oh, she was brilliant! - but Proper Dave just had to say he couldn't see the point in staying in the light, so he rounded on the group and asked, "Who screamed?"

Proper Dave beat Anita to replying. "Miss Evangelista."

The Doctor sighed, manfully refrained from rolling his eyes, and posed another question. "So...where is she?"

Donna had quit scolding Jenny for being reckless by this point, not because she'd made her point, but because even she could tell that the situation had got way too serious for something currently so inane. So she put her arm around Jenny's shoulder as River Song used her communicator to try and find Miss Evangelista...only for her voice to echo from the skeleton. Donna turned a bit green and had to swallow several times as it really hit her hard - something had eaten that poor girl, and left her skeleton behind in less time than it took her to run here.

The Doctor joined his girls and all three watched as River Song pulled a piece of collar with the communicator attached from the skeleton's back.

"It's her," Professor Song said. "It's Miss Evangelista."

Jenny made sure there weren't any shadows currently near her or her parents while her dad had a few words with Anita. Good thing there weren't any - she probably would've jumped right into one when Miss Evangelista pretty much spoke from wherever dead people go. Except it wasn't a real ghost, it was a data ghost. An afterimage trapped in the neural relays of the communicator, according to what Dad had said to Mum. Still, it was horrible, and she slithered in under her mum's arm to get and give a hug while she tried to not freak out about it.

Not that Donna could be any comfort right then - she was far too busy trying not to panic about the whole situation and still try and give that poor dead girl some last shred of comfort before she got stuck repeating and died for a second time. In tears, Donna finally returned the hug of her little blonde limpet, and shivered when the Doctor put his arms around them both. Pity that couldn't last - he was off again just moments later, but the comfort was nice while it lasted.

"Come on, Mum. We'd better stick with the others, or Dad'll panic," Jenny said and tugged her mum along with her as they followed the group who were following her dad. In the room they'd just run back to, Jenny scowled to see her dad knelt down by River Song, trying again to get answers from her. Too bad all he got was a packed lunch...but the answers would come sooner or later; if her dad didn't go for them, she would, and with all the tenacity of a bulldog.

 

* * *

 

While they were watching the Doctor scan the shadows with his sonic, River Song took up a place on the other side of Donna and asked. "You travel with him, don't you? The Doctor, you travel with him."

"What of it?" Donna glanced at the woman and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes we travel with him or we wouldn't be here," Jenny added in from the other side of her mum and rolled her eyes. Oh, but that woman asked ridiculous questions! She blinked and frowned as she thought she caught a shadow move, but she couldn't get her dad's attention as he was too busy scanning shadows and moving Proper Dave to join the others. She did listen in on her mum talking with River Song though, and sighed when she finally realised what had happened. River Song was crossing timelines with her dad, and ended up at a point where he hadn't met her yet.

"He hasn't met me yet." River was saying. "I sent him a message but it went wrong, it arrived too early. This is the Doctor in the days before he knew me. And he looks at me, he looks right through me and it shouldn't kill me, but it does."

"What are you talking about?" Donna snapped, turning to face River instead of watching the Doctor. "Are you just talking rubbish? Do you know him or don't you?"

"And why don't you know me if you really do know my dad?" Jenny added in. "I'm certainly not capable of leaving him anytime soon, so why don't you know me?" She made a note to explain crossing timelines to her mum in a few minutes, but right now she wanted to find out if she'd leapt to the right conclusion...or if River Song was just messing with their heads.

"Donna! Jenny! Quiet! I'm working!" The doctor called out from where he was currently scanning shadows under a table.

"Sorry!" Jenny and Donna called out in unison, then stared at River, waiting for their answers.

River looked completely taken aback, and shocked. And now she thought she understood why the blonde was so annoyed with her. She'd talk with her in a little bit though - first she needed to know if this was the right Donna. "Donna? You're Donna? Donna Noble?"

"Yeah. Why?" Donna folded her arms and frowned at River Flirt. Honestly, that woman was as bad as the Doctor about getting to the point!

"I do know the Doctor. But in the future. His personal future." River bit her lip and looked pensive, unsure for the first time ever what to say.

"So why don't you know me and Jenny then? Where are we in the future where you know the Doctor?"

Jenny rolled her eyes as her dad interrupted, and just when they were about to get answers too! She stuck close to her mum though, and watched what she knew was going to happen now that Dad had found a cluster of Vashta Nerada. And oh, was it unnerving to watch them strip that chicken leg to the bone before it could even hit the ground, much less bounce.

"The piranhas of the air, the Vashta Nerada. Literally 'the shadows that melt the flesh'," the Doctor said, in lecture mode as he watched everyone realise the threat they were facing. "Most planets have them, but usually in small clusters. I've never seen an infestation on this scale, or this aggressive."

Jenny decided that since the main question about River Song had been answered, that she could leave that aside and start working on how to weaponise the lights so they could have a guaranteed safe area. Trouble was, she was pretty sure those torches would burn out too fast if she upgraded them enough to do any real good. That was a massive problem, she thought as she stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jacket. And blinked as she felt her very own sonic screwdriver - that she was sure she'd left behind on her dresser - in the right hand pocket. "Well, at least I won't have to bother Dad for his," she muttered, while he was explaining to her mum that Vashta Nerada were universal, and were even on Earth.

She was attempting to run schematics of the standard torch and was trying to calculate exactly how fast the batteries would drain while her dad was finally getting it through to everyone how much danger they were in. She was so deep in thought that she didn't even notice the discussion about the exit teleport - which was why she jumped a little when her mum exclaimed about the little shop. Huh. She hadn't realised that about little shops - that their sole purpose was to herd people through as they were leaving a place so they'd buy stuff. Handy information, that.

Proper Dave had perked up at that information and started for the shop, but the Doctor called for him to halt.

"I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry. But you've got two shadows. It's how they hunt, they latch on to a food source and keep it fresh."

Proper Dave looked at his two shadows, then back up at the Doctor with something close to pants-wetting terror clear on his face. "What do I do?"

"You stay absolutely still," The Doctor replied. "Like there's a wasp in the room, like there's a million wasps."

"We're not leaving you, Dave." River Song said firmly, as though it was a given and shouldn't have needed to be said. And, unknowingly, won a grudging bit of respect from Jenny.

"Course we're not leaving." The Doctor smiled reassuringly, even though he didn't really have a clue what to do. He'd never seen such a massive swarm before...ah well, he'd think of something. "Where's your helmet? Don't point, just tell me."

"On the floor, by my bag." Proper Dave said, his voice shaking more than a bit. But who could blame him for that? Anita went to fetch the helmet, and exercised even more caution leaving and returning when the Doctor reminded her sharply to not cross Proper Dave's shadows. She handed it to the Doctor, who smiled at her, just a bit. "Thanks. Now, the rest of you, helmets back on and sealed up. We'll need everything we've got."

As he was putting the helmet on Proper Dave and securing it properly, Donna felt it necessary to point out a little fact she thought her mad Time Boy must have missed. "But, Doctor, we haven't got any helmets."

"Yeah, but we're safe anyway." he replied after a final check of the seals.

"How are we safe?" Donna put her arm around Jenny, who'd finally got tired of being alone, and stared at her nutter, waiting for an answer.

"We're not, that was a clever lie to shut you up." Before Donna could throw a fit, or Jenny snap at him, he turned away to ask River. "Professor, anything I can do with the suit?"

River shrugged, completely ignoring Mr. Lux's complaints about how the suit didn't do Miss Evangelista any good. "We can increase the mesh-density, dial it up to 400%. Make it a tougher meal."

"Okay!" He used the sonic on the control panel of Proper Dave's suit. "800%! Pass it on." He showed off his sonic screwdriver, only to be gobsmacked by River already holding a similar, albeit bulkier one.

She grinned cheekily at him. "Gotcha!"

Still gobsmacked, the only thing the Doctor could think to ask was. "What's that?"

"It's a screwdriver." River said, quite calmly, as though she were used to fielding inane questions from the Doctor.

"It's sonic." He narrowed his eyes, wondering how she got a sonic screwdriver. It wasn't as though they were a common thing. Well...not anymore.

"Yeah, I know. Snap!" And River went off sealing everyone's suits, not noticing that the two Time Lords were watching her suspiciously.

He shook himself out of watching that infuriating woman at Jenny's mental nudge, then he grabbed his daughter and his best mate's hand. "With me, come on!" And very nearly dragged them at speed into the shop.

"What are we doing, are we shopping? Is it a good time to shop?" Donna asked, almost bouncing in place as she looked about the little shop. Meanwhile, there was a speed of thought conversation going on, while the Doctor set the controls of a three-pad teleport.

_Dad, what are you doing?_

_Getting you and Donna to safety, Little Star. And you two are the only ones I can get to safety - the TARDIS won't recognise the others and will reject them._

_But Dad-_

_No buts, Little Star. Now get on the teleport_.

Controls set, and with no appreciable delay thanks to the speed of telepathy, the Doctor called Donna over. "No talking, just moving! Try it! Right, stand there in the middle. It's a teleport. Can't send the others, TARDIS won't recognise them." And he watched like a hawk as Donna got onto the middle pad, followed by Jenny standing on the left one.

Donna stared as the Doctor fine-tuned a few more controls. "What are you doing?"

"You don't have a suit, you're not safe!" He replied, and tweaked one more control. He'd expected Jenny to be on the other pad, not the one she'd picked, so he had to do one last adjustment.

Donna's jaw dropped at the risk her Spaceman was taking, and didn't notice Jenny slipping quietly off the teleport pad. "You don't have a suit, so you're in just as much danger as I am and I'm not leaving-"

In his efforts to keep Donna on the platform with fast talk, he didn't notice that Jenny wasn't there either. "Donna! Let me explain." He flamboyantly slapped a lever and the teleport took Donna away. "Oh, that's how you do it!" However, his hearts felt like they'd fallen into his shoes when he saw his daughter, standing behind where Donna had been, instead of gone to the TARDIS with Donna like she ought to have been. "Jenny Caelesta Smith, you were supposed to go with your mother!" _I need both of you safe_!

"Sorry Dad," Jenny shrugged, not really looking sorry at all. "I only agreed that Mum should be teleported away, not me too." _Besides, she'd be even more furious than she is now if you were left here all alone with no one to make sure you were okay_.

"But...but..." He ran both hands through his hair, then tugged in angry frustration. "Get back on the teleport Jenny! I can't do this if I'm worrying about you!" _Please, Jenny please, just do as I say! Now is not the time for arguing!_

Jenny scowled furiously as her soldier-programming (Obey the commanding officer) ran into the stubborn nature she'd been developing since shortly after her rebirth and sort of got squashed. There was a time and a place for obeying without question, and this wasn't it. Yet. But before she could point out that he'd do better herding this lot of stubborn humans if he had her help, River Song called for her dad again, and he took off running with her trailing behind, wondering just what that woman wanted with her dad this time. And whether she'd ever find the time to corner her and get some real answers to all her questions.

At least the interruption made her dad forget about sending her away.


	10. Chapter 10: Shadows on the March

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This chapter has a shout-out line to tkelparis' Shakespearean Cupids...which coincidentally inspired this story to exist in the first place, so it felt appropriate to come full-circle, so to speak, now that I've finally gotten into the Library. Very amusing to see your beta go 'Squee!' because you put in an homage line, let me tell you :D Love ya, tkel!
> 
> Two more chapters and the Library arc is finished... kind of surprised I've managed enough time to do this many chapters, really.
> 
> Love to all you reviewers and readers!

* * *

 

The Doctor and Jenny skidded to a halt in the other room, and both of them saw immediately why River had shouted for them: Proper Dave only had one shadow now. Jenny hung back a tad, eyes narrowed in thought as she tried to think of another reason he'd only have one shadow, other than the obvious; her dad on the other hand, went to investigate up close and personal.

"Where did it go?" The Doctor asked, his annoyance at his daughter's disobedience leaking into his query a trifle.

Proper Dave shrugged. "It's just gone. I...I looked around, one shadow. See?"

"Does that mean we can leave now?" River asked, finally on edge as the immensity of the situation made itself known. "I don't want to hang around here."

"I don't know why we're still here," Mr Lux snapped. "We can leave him, can't we? I mean, no offence..."

"Oh shut up," Jenny said, nearly simultaneously with River Song. She continued alone, however. "We're not leaving anyone behind, that's the whole point of this. No one left behind. Not. Even. You," She finished, glaring at the butterball who was almost as annoying as the flirt.

Meanwhile, the Doctor was still trying to figure out what had happened, and hoped it wasn't what he was afraid of. "Did you feel anything? Like an energy transfer? Anything at all?"

"No, no, but look, it's...it's gone," Proper Dave started to turn around, trying to show the Doctor that he was right, that he was clear.

"Stop there, stop, stop, stop there, stop moving! They're never just gone, and they never give up!" He knelt down and started scanning shadows with his sonic again.

Off to the side, Jenny was watching her dad and hoping he'd find something, but she had a feeling that Proper Dave was doomed. _Dad, stop. I think they're in the suit_.

"Well, this one's benign," The Doctor said aloud, while he answered his daughter telepathically. _Why? What makes you think that?_

As Proper Dave asked who turned out the lights, Jenny sighed. _Well, it was just a gut feeling, but I'm more certain now._

The Doctor groaned mentally, as verbally he told Dave that the lights were still on. _Oh no, no, no. Oh Dave..._

"No, seriously, turn them back on!" Proper Dave shouted in a panic.

"They are on." River Song said, attempting to calm him down.

"I can't see a ruddy thing!" Proper Dave complained.

"Dave, turn 'round." The Doctor asked, while backing away from him. And when he saw the darkness in Dave's helmet, he put himself between Dave and his daughter.

"What's going on? Why can't I see? Is the power gone, are we safe here?"

"Dave, I want you stay still, absolutely still." The Doctor and Jenny were the only ones who heard a faint -crunch- when Dave suddenly went stiff. Still, he felt he had to try and hold onto hope, even though he was pretty sure his daughter was right and it was useless. "Dave, Dave? Dave, can you hear me, are you all right? Talk to me, Dave."

"I'm fine, I'm OK, I'm... I'm fine."

As Proper Dave's voice and her Dad communicated, Jenny sighed again and bit her lip. She'd seen the blinking lights on the communicator, and knew for certain that Dave was gone. Eaten by the Vashta Nerada. But how did they get into the bloody suit? The mesh density increase should have stopped that. Unless they already had a foothold before it was dialled up... or... well, they were carnivores that hadn't had a meal in over a hundred years. And that would make them persistent enough to wear away at a hundred little places to get inside to the meat once they'd targeted it. "He's gone. He's ghosting."

River sighed. That was two people gone in less than fifteen minutes. Rather a poor example of her leadership - it usually took the Doctor half an hour to start losing people that quickly. And that was if things were near-hopeless from the start...what had she done, coming here?

"Then why is he still standing?" Mr Lux snapped.

"Hey! Who turned out the lights? Hey! Who turned out the lights?"

Jenny grabbed her dad by the arm as he tried to get closer to Dave's standing suit. "No Dad. He's ghosting. He's been ghosting for the whole time since he went stiff. There's no point in getting closer - he's gone."

And as the Doctor opened his mouth to argue with his daughter, the light in the helmet finally came back on, revealing just a skull and the vertebrae of the neck. And yet, the arms of the suit snapped up, groping for something - someone - to attack, and the skeleton-in-a-suit started staggering forward. Slowly, awkwardly, but still making forward progress.

"Back away from it! Back back back back!" The Doctor shouted, pushing his daughter behind him. _Thanks. It might have got me without you here._

_Yeah, well, someone's got to keep you safe Dad._ Jenny would have smirked, if they hadn't been in imminent danger. _Glad I didn't let you send me away now?_

_Not really, no. I wanted and still want you safe, Little Star,_ he replied to his daughter. To River, who'd commented about the suited skeleton not moving very fast, he sniped. "It's a swarm in a suit. But it's learning."

"Yeah, I'd say it's learning," Jenny gulped as shadows suddenly popped up at the suited skeleton's feet and started oozing toward them. They were almost at the wall, and the Vashta Nerada's new party trick cut them off from dodging the skeleton Dave to get to an exit.

Fortunately River Song had a squareness gun, and cut them a hole right though the wall. Which they all promptly ran through, albeit with a silent argument between father and daughter over who should go last. Unfortunately, there apparently wasn't a way to close the hole behind them, so they had to go running down the shadowy, book-filled aisle to get away from the pursuing skeleton.

And if River Song didn't let go of her dad's hand soon, she was going to find a boot up her arse.

 

* * *

 

 

A little while later, father and daughter were fiddling with their sonics on a pair of lamps, creating a safe space for the rest of the group to catch a breather in, which they all seemed to desperately need. Except for River of course - but then, she had supposedly travelled with Dad before. Well, as long as she didn't interfere... or start flirting again...

"-trying to boost the power," he was saying to River as Jenny finished with her lamp, having boosted it as much as was safe to keep the bulb from blowing too quickly. "Light doesn't stop them, but it slows them down."

"Actually it could stop them," Jenny said as she joined her dad. "It's just the supplies we have won't hold up longer than five minutes under the drain and the power-channelling. Or that was my best calculation, given the type of torch we've got handy."

"Can it?" The Doctor was distracted from his fiddling, and beamed at his daughter. "Knew fresh eyes could make something of all that information! Brilliant!" _Did you think about stabilizing the power drain with the sonic to create a feedback harmonic that would keep them going longer, Little Star?_

_Um, no, I didn't. I'll just do that now then...but that would only be ten minutes per torch, wouldn't it? And doesn't that woman understand safety versus resources? We'll have to move on sooner with her boosting the lamp like that. Bulb will only last five minutes max now._ Her annoyance with River reminded Jenny that she'd never really gotten an answer as to why the woman didn't know her if she'd known her dad in the future. But she didn't want to upset her dad about it by reminding him of drastic possibilities, so she'd corner the woman later and get her answers.

But before Jenny could chime in on the conversation about River's screwdriver to note that River's screwdriver was bulkier and had extra bits, the subject turned to her mum and Jenny got very antsy. She knew her dad had taken into account the age of the teleport because he'd been very careful about fiddling with the controls and settings while trying to send them both away. So why hadn't the TARDIS signalled that she'd gotten there safely? She ran with her dad to the nearby Node, too worried to remind him that he'd told Mum earlier that it wasn't very useful.

"Donna Noble," the Doctor said to the Node as he got to it. "There's a Donna Noble somewhere in this Library. Do you have the software to locate her position?"

Both Time Lords felt their hearts freeze when the Node turned to reveal Donna's face. And it spoke, using Donna's voice to say. "Donna Noble has left the Library. Donna Noble has been saved."

Jenny leant into her dad's side, shocked, disturbed and heartbroken. And feeling her age of barely a month. "No...not Mum!"

His hearts feeling like they had just shattered, the Doctor absently wrapped his arm around his daughter pulling her closer to him. "Donna!"

The Node kept repeating as River Song came to stand beside the father and daughter. She understood a lot more now about the current emotional standings, but she'd deal with her feelings about that later. "How can it be Donna? How is that possible?"

The Doctor completely ignored River's questions, and reached up to caress the recreated cheek of the face of the woman he had to finally admit - at least to himself - that he loved. The woman he had most likely killed in his attempts to keep her safe. "Oh, Donna. What have I done?"

He absently wrapped his other arm around his daughter as well, some vague thought of keeping her from looking at the devastating sight percolating in the back of his mind. He didn't even notice the suited skeleton had popped up again, asking it's repetitive 'Hey! Who turned out the lights?' in counterpoint to the Node's repetitive 'Donna Noble has left the Library. Donna Noble has been saved'.

It took River Song pulling one of his arms off of Jenny to use to drag them along with the rest of the group, running from Skeleton Dave, to shake him even a little out of his frozen despair. They ran until they got hemmed in in a long length of aisle, Skeleton Dave at one end, and moving shadows at the other. River used her squareness gun again to cut a hole in the wall and chivvied everyone through it, paying special attention to the barely-there Time Lords.

And all the while, she had to battle a viciously biting, bitter jealousy of Donna Noble, who meant so much to the one man she trusted and loved above everything. He'd never told her anything about Donna, and that had always haunted her - was this why? Was her summons to the Library and Donna's loss why he wouldn't tell her? Because he thought she already knew?

 

* * *

 

Some time later, after they'd gone through the Nth hole cut in a wall by the squareness gun, they found a room with no lights, but a lovely view of the huge moon through the domed ceiling. The Doctor and his daughter had recovered themselves enough to be useful, scanning the shadows while River continued chivvying the rest of the group into doing safe things.

"There's no lights here. Sunset's coming, we can't stay long. Have either of you found a live one?" River asked, once she'd gotten Anita, Other Dave and Mr. Lux firmly planted in the light where their shadows wouldn't cross.

"Maybe, it's getting harder to tell," the Doctor replied. Father and daughter, on opposite sides of the circle, both shook their sonics and, in unison, asked. "What's wrong with you?"

"We're going to need a chicken leg then. Who's got a chicken leg?" River asked, to be handed one by Other Dave. "Thanks, Dave." And, once again, they got to see the rather disturbing sight of meat stripped off the bone before it could fall. "Okay. We've got a hot one. Watch your feet, everyone."

"They won't attack until there's enough of them, but they've got our scent now, they're coming." The Doctor said, then joined his daughter to examine both their sonics and have a private little chat while the others talked.

"I'm sorry I fell apart on you back there, Little Star." He murmured as he scanned her sonic for faults.

"S'okay Dad. I was worse - completely useless," Jenny managed a wan little smile as she watched him at work. "Do you...I mean, is there...is there any hope that Mum's still alive? Somehow, somewhere? Just maybe?"

"I don't know. I just...don't know." He sighed and shared a devastated look with his daughter before using her sonic to scan his. River joined them again, so he added, telepathically. _But now I am so, so very glad I didn't send you with Donna. If I'd..._

_Dad, don't. It isn't your fault...you were just trying to keep us safe. It isn't your fault that something went wrong._ Jenny managed a smile that only wobbled a little, then took her sonic back when her dad finished with it.

_Still feels like it though._ He managed a wan smile for his daughter, then answered River's question about the problem with the sonics. "There's a signal coming from somewhere, interfering with them."

"Then use the red settings." River said, as though it were obvious. And it was, to her.

"They don't have a red setting." The Doctor almost snapped, staring at her.

"Well, use the dampers then." River very nearly rolled her eyes. At any time, the Doctor was hard work, but even more so when he was this young! And Jenny...she'd never seen Jenny like this, all blonde and suspicious. Such a hard-edged...child, and not the snarky, amusing, auburn haired woman she knew best, who was always willing to give anyone and anything at least one chance. That, she realised with a sinking feeling, was probably Jenny's attempt to honour her adopted mother after the woman had passed on, and made her wonder if Jenny had learnt how to do what her father hadn't - control her regenerations.

"They don't have dampers either!" Jenny did snap, scowling at River Song. Who was this woman, really? Oh, she'd have to get answers soon, or the wondering would drive her mad!

Keeping her calm by force of will, River showed them both her sonic. "They will do one day."

Eyes narrowed suspiciously, the Doctor glanced over the Sonic before fixing on River. "So, sometime in the future, I just give you my screwdriver."

"Yeah." River smiled, carefully not looking at Jenny, who was glaring at either her or her screwdriver. Or, possibly, both - with a Jenny she'd never met, it was hard to say.

Jenny snorted. "Why would Dad do that?" But the future screwdriver was interesting, with it's dampers and red end opposite the blue end. She wondered what would lead to the development of unknown improvements to a pretty much does-everything gadget, then huffed, annoyed at herself. They'd figure it out in the future. Meanwhile, this was now, with a very annoying, secret-flaunting woman.

_I wish she'd just give us a straight answer, Dad. I mean, I know she claims to be from your future, and she could skew everything by saying the wrong thing...but couldn't she find some way to be less annoying about it?_

Looking at the Doctor, River answered Jenny's question - the same question she could see in his eyes. "I didn't pluck it from your cold dead hands, if that's what you're worried about."

"And I know that because...?" The Doctor scowled at River, and answered his daughter. _I know you want answers from her - I do too! But you have to be very careful when you're crossing timelines. If she says the wrong thing, she could potentially wipe herself out of existence, and she obviously knows enough about time to know that. How she knows is still a big question though..._

"Listen to me," River said. "You've lost your friend, you're angry, I understand. But the pair of you need to be less emotional. Right now-"

Jenny would have slapped River if she'd been one step closer. "She wasn't just a friend, she's my mum! And-" Jenny was halted by her dad's hand on her arm, or she may well have closed that single step needed during the rest of her planned rant to slap that cold-hearted fish of a woman.

"We're not emotional," the Doctor glared at River, hand tensed to pull Jenny back should she attempt to emulate Donna again.

"Right," River snorted, pointedly eyeing the hand that was still restraining his daughter. "There are six people in this room still alive, focus on that. Dear God, you're BOTH such hard work young!"

The Doctor's face crinkled into an expression of confusion and a bit of disgust. "Young? Who are you?!"

River's face softened unexpectedly, and she stepped closer to the agitated pair. "Doctor... one day I'm going to be someone that you trust completely, but I can't wait for you to find that out. So I'm going to prove it to you. And I'm sorry. I'm really very sorry." She leant in on the side that Jenny wasn't, and whispered in his ear. Then stepped back a pace and asked. "Are we good? Doctor... are we good?"

Face and mind slack in confusion and shock, the Doctor absently replied. "Yeah... Yeah, we're good."

After River left to return to the remainder of her team, Jenny shook her arm free of her dad's lax grip and stood in front of him. "Dad?" _Dad, what did she say to you?_

He didn't look at her for a long moment, and when he finally did, Jenny could have cried for the shock, confusion, and despair warring in his eyes. "I'm all right, Jenny." _She said my name. My true name._

_And what's that got to do with you looking so...well...so broken?_   Jenny shot an angry stare at River's back.

_Later, Little Star. Later_. Right now, he had to keep going. For Jenny's sake, and the hope that somehow he could rescue his best friend. So he squashed down all the conflicted feelings about River Song, and smiled apologetically at his daughter before whirling about and pacing back and forth, midway between his daughter and the rest of the group. "Know what's interesting about my screwdriver? Very hard to interfere with, practically nothing's strong enough...well, Donna's hairdryer, but I'm working on that. So there is a very strong signal coming from somewhere, and it wasn't there before, so what's new, what's changed?"

The rest of the group just looked at each other, confused. Jenny, meanwhile, eyed the surroundings. Books, books, and more books. And terminals - neither of which were a new thing. So she glanced up at the ceiling, wondering if there were more of those security cameras that might be broadcasting a different signal and had her attention caught by the moon. It looked a bit like Earth's moon, but was comparatively much, much larger given it's position in the sky. And it hadn't been up earlier...

She interrupted her dad being snarky at Other Dave for suggesting the oncoming night was the issue by clearing her throat. "Dad? Have you looked at the moon yet? It's huge. It could be a property of whatever the moon's composed of altering the reflected sunlight. Or there could be-"

"There could be a broadcast from it, brilliant!" The Doctor grinned proudly at his daughter, then turned to River and Mr. Lux. "Tell me about the moon. Is there anything there?"

Mr. Lux shrugged, not really wanting to talk about the computer setup. They were already too close to the secret he had to protect...still, if it would help figure out what had happened here... "It's not real, it was built as part of the Library. It's just a doctor moon."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow as his daughter joined him, then asked. "Aaannnd, a doctor moon is?"

"A virus checker," was the reluctant reply. Mr. Lux then continued. "It supports and maintains the main computer at the core of the planet. That's all it does, that's it's purpose."

Jenny turned on her sonic again and adjusted it to scan the signal from the moon, hoping to block it. "So, if we tune the sonic to block the signal from the moon - because I seriously doubt anyone in the Library is drying their hair with Mum's hairdryer - then maybe-" She made one more adjustment to the sonic, then gasped as a hazy image appeared. "Mum!"

"Donna!" The Doctor shouted, and stared at the image of the woman he loved staring gobsmacked at him and his daughter for the few seconds until it faded. "Jenny, what was the frequency?" Once he'd gotten the answer, father and daughter worked frantically with their sonic screwdrivers, desperate to see if they could determine how they'd gotten an image of their missing piece. And, more importantly, where their desperately loved and missed ginger was.

"Bother it all!" Jenny cried out, frustrated. "The signal keeps changing - it's fluxing at random!" She slapped her sonic against her palm in frustration and stared at her dad. _What do we do now?_

_We keep going, of course. With hope now - somewhere, somehow, Donna's still alive!_ The pair shared a fiercely happy smile, but their moment to celebrate was cut short by a modicum of their attention latching onto Anita telling River Song she had two shadows.

They rejoined the group as everyone was re-donning their helmets, and the Doctor used his sonic on Anita's visor. And, though he ought not have, smirked just the tiniest bit when River gasped.

"That was clever, Dad," Jenny said, peering at the completely black visor. "Maybe they'll think they're already in there and leave her alone." She stepped back and gave the room another casual glance, then looked at her feet. _Dad?_

"Do you really think that will work?" River asked, staring at the two Time Lords. They were the only hope that she might get out of this with part of her team intact, after all. She was certainly failing at it...maybe it was time she gave up adventuring...

"Maybe, I don't know," The Doctor shrugged. "It's a swarm, it's not like we sit down and chat." He glanced at River, utterly serious. "But it's worth a try, don't you think?" _What?_

For the first time in some time, River Song smiled. Just a small one, though, and with a distinct lack of flirt. "Always."

_Skeleton-Dave's back, Dad_. Jenny casually ambled over to Other-Dave and Anita and Mr. Lux, and inconspicuously made sure they all had their packs on.

_Bugger._ He noted the flash of memory that Jenny had sent, then drew River aside. "Professor Song, could I have a moment?"

She raised an eyebrow as the Doctor drew her aside for a private moment. She knew this wasn't for sweet nothings, so what did he want to say? "What is it?"

In a low voice, the Doctor replied. "Like you said, there are six people alive in this room."

"Yeah, so?" River stared at him, wondering if she'd inadvertently cracked his hold on sanity, for him to draw her away to state the obvious in such low tones. The Doctor she was used to dropped the most disturbing things into conversation with either a normal voice or shouting it out.

"So," he drew out his question slightly, although deadly serious about it. "Why are there seven?"

"Hey! Who turned out the lights?" The sudden question made the entire group, bar Jenny and the Doctor, jump and spin to see the dreadful sight they'd all feared catching up to them. Proper Dave's suit, skeleton still ensconced in it, standing in the background. Still a reasonable distance away from them, but all the same, far too close for comfort.

"Run!" was shouted, and the entire group took off in unison, running for the doors on the far side of the room. Behind them, they could hear the dreadful, gut-wrenching repeat of Proper Dave's last words continually pursuing them. The door lead to another hallway that ended in a pair of double-doors.

The group of six burst through those and back into sunlight. It was a corridor connecting the building they'd been in with another, and they all ran along it. Until the Doctor stopped in the middle. "Jenny, Professor, go on ahead and find a safe spot."

"It's a carnivorous swarm in a suit," River exclaimed. "You can't reason with it!"

"Dad, she's right," Jenny's mouth twisted a bit, like she'd bitten something sour when she had to agree with that blasted woman. "Come on, we all need to stick together!"

"It's using Proper Dave's neural relay. In a very basic sense, I'll admit, but it's using it. That means there's a chance that I can teach them to communicate." The Doctor stood his ground, despite the pleading looks from his daughter. "Five minutes, that's all I need." _I have to try, Little Star, you know that. And better me than you._

_Fine. But you'd better not get yourself killed, you hear me Dad?_ Jenny glowered for the risky chance her dad was grabbing at, but he was, tactically, the better choice. More experience, more knowledge...the only thing she had over him was being faster and more physically flexible, and that really wouldn't help that much. Not for talking to them, anyway. She snorted at River's orders to Other Dave - yeah, the woman knew Dad all right. Pull him out when he was too stupid to live, indeed. Good luck, Other Dave.

_Loud and clear. Now go on, keep the rest of them safe_. He smiled confidently at his daughter, proud that she was taking over herding the group to safety. Then he turned to face the swarm in a suit, ready to pull off the toughest negotiation of his lives. His daughter's lives depended on it as well as his own...and his hopes of somehow saving Donna.


	11. Chapter 11: Chaos and Catastrophe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still just building castles in the BBC's sandbox and playing with their toys.
> 
> AN: Jenny gets to snap at River a bit now :D Something she's been dying to do since the woman showed up. And we find out just a smidge more about when the majority of River's knowledge of the Doctor in this 'verse happens. And as always, love to tkelparis for betaing this little monster of mine, even though she hates River. *mwah!*
> 
> Love to all you reviewers and readers!

* * *

 

 

The group left the connecting corridor, and ran through several more hallways until they found an open room with a second story linked with multiple staircases. Anita and Mr Lux were in the one reasonably-lit spot, and Jenny was scanning shadows along with River Song. Once she'd done her duty, she casually ambled over to the woman who'd been annoying her so much and lightly leaned against a book-cart. "So. You know my dad, but not me or my mum. Why is that? And don't pull the 'spoilers' card on me, because that's long past pissing me off and I will likely slap you for it."

River smirked, just a little, because she could see a hint of the woman she knew in the girl presently in front of her. "I could, you know. Easily and honestly. But...when I know you and your father best, you're a different woman. Not to mention you never told me you'd been blonde previously." River shrugged and absently scanned a shadow. "You're the one who gave me the sonic blaster - the squareness gun - actually. Said it'd come in handy for my lifestyle."

She smirked a bit more, then turned to face Jenny fully. "As for Donna...neither of you ever told me much more than her name. And after the first few times of being slapped down for asking about her, I simply assumed that something horrible had happened to her and stopped asking." She rubbed her cheek and smiled ruefully. "You have a very pointed way of making someone stop asking questions, sometimes...I didn't even know you called her mum until today."

Jenny bit her lip and looked off to the side to see Anita and Mr. Lux start and pretend they weren't eavesdropping. She despised being reminded that her mum was human, and they'd lose her sooner than they could ever want. But what could have happened that neither she nor her dad would never mention her mum? What could be that horrible? Were they going to not be able to rescue her from wherever she was stuck in the Library? Still, apparently whenever she herself died, she regenerated with traits of her mum, so that was a tiny bit of consolation. She knew what River's rubbing her cheek like that meant - she'd been slapped at least once.

Rather than ask further questions in her current confused state, Jenny returned to scanning the shadows, grateful that there wasn't a glass-domed ceiling in this room. The solid ceiling was blocking the signal from the doctor moon enough so she could actually be useful while she thought. And fretted. It had been over five minutes, so where was her dad? She'd almost decided to go look for him when River started telling Mr. Lux and Anita a bit about what she knew about her dad, so she paused in a well-lit spot to listen. It was another clue to decipher when this woman would show up in their future. "...you know when you see a photograph of someone you know, but it's from years before you knew them? It's like they're not quite...finished, they're not done yet." River smiled wryly, then sighed. "Well...yes, the Doctor's here. He came when I called, just like he always does. But not my Doctor. Now my Doctor...I've seen whole armies turn and run away from him. And he'd just swagger off back to his TARDIS and open the doors with a snap of his fingers. The Doctor... in the TARDIS... next stop - everywhere."

Jenny frowned, eyebrows nearly meeting with the intensity of her confusion and slowly building annoyance...it might even be anger by now. It sounded like her dad would become a completely different person in the future, and she wasn't sure what to think about that. He stopped armies, yes, but he didn't instill terror in them. Or at least he hadn't on Messaline. Not that she'd noticed, anyway...he might have done something after she'd dropped into coma. Or died and come back, whichever it was she'd actually done. He was certainly against violence of any sort - he even hated it when it was absolutely necessary, and it was a huge burden on him each time violence was the only solution.

So what the blazes was going to happen to her dad that he'd take pride in terrifying people, when he was so against violence of any sort right now? Was losing Mum going to make him such a different person that he'd become someone vengeful and terrifying like that? And opening the TARDIS with a snap of the fingers...how could that work? And why couldn't that annoying woman be more specific on when? Although her recognising Dad was a clue - he'd have to have had the same face when they met first, or she'd not have recognised him now. Or...at least she thought she wouldn't. She was so lost in thought in her bright spot that she didn't even notice her Dad pop up. She jumped in surprise - and, embarrassingly, squeaked - when he suddenly spoke from halfway down the stairs.

"Spoilers! Nobody can open a TARDIS by snapping their fingers. It doesn't work like that." He skipped descending the rest of the stairs by vaulting over the landing railing, and immediately went to check on his distracted daughter. _All right, Little Star?_

_Yeah, m'fine._ Jenny smiled sheepishly at her dad. _Just...thinking about some of the things River said to me._

_Must have been quite something - you were completely lost to the world there._ He gave her a thorough, though quick, going-over, then turned to face River again.

River, not noticing the telepathic conversation, simply replied to the last thing the Doctor had said. Tiredly, as though she were tired of arguing the point. "It does for the Doctor."

_Had a lot to think about._ Jenny sighed in exasperation, rolled her eyes and muttered. "Oh, not this again."

The Doctor pinned River Song with narrowed eyes. She may know his name, but she obviously didn't properly know him, to say something like that. So why would he keep her around, much less...? "I am the Doctor."

He left to go talk to Anita, and Jenny intercepted River before she could follow to continue whatever idiocy she was planning on. "You know...you may know Dad's name, but you really don't know him as well as you think you do. He's the Doctor. He isn't acting like the smug git you imply he turns into in the future, but he is and always will be the Doctor. You comparing him to his future self...that's like if I went and tracked down your younger self and told her she'd be a stuck up, arrogant, egotistical blabbermouth one day who didn't care about trampling on others' feelings. Highly insulting and really spoiling the future in a very annoying way. And in case you'd forgotten, we're in a rather dangerous situation and neither of us needs the distraction of trying to figure you and your spoilers out. So put a sock in it already before I give you another pointed clue to stop!"

River stared at Jenny, then at the girl's raised right hand. Between the obvious threat and the girl's impassioned description of what she looked like from outside, she was more than a little taken aback. Everything was coming out wrong, apparently, or rather it was coming out right to the wrong people, and she felt rather off-kilter. She took a deep breath and sighed it back out, then nerved herself to try her best to explain her point of view. Hopefully in a manner that wouldn't earn her another painful slap. Before she could speak, though, she was saved by the metaphorical bell.

In this case, the Doctor shouting as he left Anita's side. "Safe. You don't say saved, nobody says saved, you say safe. The data fragment! What did it say?"

Mr. Lux had a puzzled frown as he recited from memory. "4,022 people saved. No survivors."

"Dad?" Jenny went to join her father and the rest of the group, River trailing behind. "What are you on about?"

"Oh, Jenny, haven't you figured it out yet? Nobody says saved, well, nutters say saved. Religious people say saved. You and me, we'd say safe. But you see, the message didn't mean safe, it meant - it literally meant - saved!" He grinned at his daughter, beaming broadly as he saw the light of understanding dawning in her eyes.

"So that means..." She followed her dad over to the information terminal and continued talking as he worked. "...the computer saved everyone?"

"Yes!" He pointed out to everyone the information he'd just pulled up on the terminal. "See, there it is, right there! A hundred years ago, massive power surge, all the teleports going off at once. Soon as the Vashta Nerada hit their hatching cycle, they attack. Someone hits the alarm, the computer tries to teleport everyone out."

Mr. Lux suddenly looked very concerned, but no one noticed as he was behind Professor Song, who was asking if the computer had really tried to teleport all those people. He had a horrible feeling he knew what had happened, and if he was right...

"Succeeded, pulled 'em all out, but then what? Nowhere to send them, nowhere safe in the whole Library, Vashta Nerada growing in every shadow. 4,022 people all beamed up and nowhere to go." Unable to stand still any longer, he paced toward a long table, everyone following. "They're stuck in the system, waiting to be sent, like emails. So what's a computer to do? What does a computer always do?"

Comprehension finally dawned on River Song as it had minutes ago for Jenny. She breathed out, awed. "It saved them."

Jenny grinned as her dad took out a marker and drew a circle to indicate the planet, then filled in a smaller circle. He really didn't need to illustrate...but maybe he thought he had to. After all, he was mostly explaining things to humans that weren't as clever as her mum.

"The Library, a whole world of books, and right at the core, the biggest hard drive in history." The Doctor drew an arrow from outside the circles to the inner one. "The index to everything ever written, backup copies of every single book. The computer saved 4,022 people the only way a computer can. It saved them to the hard drive."

Mr. Lux flinched as an alarm sounded. He'd been afraid the Doctor was right, and the alarm meant something had gone terribly wrong. Now...now he'd have to reveal the secret he'd succeeded in hiding for so long. Still, he had to ask...perhaps it wasn't as bad as he thought and he could keep that secret. "What is it? What's wrong?"

A computer voice answered him, and confirmed all his fears. "Auto destruct enabled in twenty minutes."

"Dad? What's going on? What's happening?" Jenny followed her dad as he ran back to the information terminal and started frantically tapping away at the keys as the screen displayed 'Maximum Erasure'. "And what's it mean, there on the screen, when it says maximum erasure?"

"Twenty minutes," he replied, still frantically working at the terminal. "This planet's going to crack like an egg."

Clinging to the only hope he had left, Mr. Lux shook his head. "No, no, it's all right. The doctor moon will stop it. It's programmed to protect CAL." But his last hope died with the screen of the information terminal.

And, over the Doctor's protests, that computer voice, fairly garbled now, said. "All Library systems are permanently offline. Sorry for any inconvenience. Shortly..."

"We need to stop this," Mr. Lux cried out in desperation. "We've got to save CAL!"

"You mean you're finally going to tell us what CAL is?" Jenny asked.

At the same time, the Doctor asked. "What is it, what is CAL?"

Mr. Lux sighed. "We need to get to the main computer. I'll show you."

"But it's at the core of the planet," Jenny fretted, worried sick about her mum. How could they get to the computer core in time to save her? Not to mention the rest of the people stuck in there.

"Well, then. Let's go!" River exclaimed, and soniced a symbol at the centre of the room, smirking as it irised open to reveal a platform waiting in an energy field. And silently thanked the luck and providence that had landed them in a room with access to the core.

"Gravity platform!" Despite the gravity of the situation, neither the Doctor nor Jenny could resist a pleased smile. And Jenny even managed something close to her usual exuberance when she said, "Oh you're observant. Bet you'll be fun in the future."

"You better believe I am!" River replied, smiling as they all boarded the platform. It appeared she might finally be winning Jenny over - something that eased her poor heart, as she really liked the Doctor's daughter, and it had hurt for her to be so harsh. Almost as much as the Doctor looking right through her did.

 

* * *

 

 

At the bottom of the shaft, they leapt off the platform and ran down a corridor lined with electronic equipment, looking for the central access to the Data Core. As they arrived, that same computer voice informed them that they only had fifteen minutes left before auto destruct, and Jenny was just about as frantic as her dad.

They were both working at a terminal, when they heard that mystery girl's voice crying out. "Help me. Please, help me."

"Dad," Jenny looked up after River's query about the voice, and frowned. "That's that little girl's voice. The one we saw on the terminal screen upstairs."

"I can't get any answers though. The computer's in sleep mode and I can't wake it up." He tugged at his hair in frustration as River came up beside them.

"Doctor, those readings...they look like alpha waves..." River commented after she'd seen the screen.

"I know," he replied. "You'd think it was...dreaming."

Mr. Lux sighed as he interjected himself into the conversation. Revealing this secret hurt, but if they were to save anyone, he had to tell them so they could see that there was one extra life at stake. "It is dreaming. Of a normal life, and a lovely Dad, and of every book ever written."

"But computers don't dream," Anita said from behind her darkened faceplate, while the girl's voice continued to plead for help.

"No," he said with a sad smile. "But little girls do." At that he keyed in a sequence and pulled a lever beside the keypad to open a hidden door to another room. Inside that room was the core of the computer, attached by cables to another Node. A Node that turned it's head as they entered to reveal the face of that mystery girl they'd seen what seemed like so long ago.

"Please help me. Please, please help me."

"Oh my God!" River stared, shocked and disturbed.

"Dad, it's her! The girl in the computer!" Jenny gasped, staring wide-eyed at the disturbing sight.

"She's not in the computer," Felman Lux sighed again. "In a way, she is the computer. The main command node. This is CAL."

The Doctor rounded on Lux, furious, and shouted. "CAL is a child! A child hooked up to a mainframe! Why didn't you tell me this? I needed to know this!"

"Because she's family!" After he'd shouted back at the Doctor, Lux ran his hand over what remained of his hair. "CAL. Charlotte Abigail Lux. My grandfather's youngest daughter. She was dying, so he built her a library and put her living mind inside. With a moon to watch over her, and all of human history to pass the time, any era to live in, any book to read." He smiled sadly and reached up to touch the cheek of the Node. "She loved books more than anything, and he gave her them all. He asked only that she be left in peace. A secret, not a freak show."

The Doctor stared at CAL, then at Felman Lux. "So you weren't protecting a patent," he murmured. "You were protecting her."

"Yes," Lux nodded. "My youngest aunt." He smiled sadly. "It's only half a life of course, but it's forever."

"So...she's been here all this time, just happily living in the computer. Until the shadows came." Jenny asked, then startled as the Charlotte node replied.

"Shadows. I have to... I have to save. Have to save..."

"She saved them," the Doctor murmured, resting a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "She saved everyone in the Library. Folded them into her dreams and kept them safe. Couldn't tell anyone, of course, because she forgot so she could stay sane." A wry smile quirked his lips. "Over 4,000 living minds, chatting away inside her head...anyone would have to forget. It'd be like being...well...me. Bit much for a little girl, don't you think?"

"So what do we do?" River asked, and was tempted to roll her eyes at the automated countdown. Yes, they only had ten minutes left to fix this, but did it really have to remind them?

"Easy!" The Doctor shouted as he left his daughter to start taking apart some equipment. "We beam all the people out of the data core, the computer will reset and stop the countdown." Still working away, he saw a bit of information and continued. "Difficult, Charlotte doesn't have enough memory space left to make the transfer. But! Easy! I'll hook myself up to the computer and she can borrow my memory space!"

"What?!" Jenny stared at her dad, jaw dropped. "But that-"

River interrupted Jenny to make the point more directly. "It'll kill you stone dead!"

He glanced at his daughter and flashed her a quick smile of reassurance, then turned his attention back to River and his work. "Easy to criticize."

That frustrating man was about to make River start tearing her hair out! How could he take such risks with his daughter stood right there listening? Especially since she was so very young - she had to try and stop him, at least for Jenny's sake, if not for her own. "It'll burn out both your hearts and don't think you'll regenerate!"

"Dad!" Jenny cried out, scared and not sure if River was right or he was.

"I'll try my hardest not to die," the Doctor said to both River and his daughter. But mostly to his Little Star. "Honestly, it's my main thing." Why couldn't they just stop protesting and let him get on with this?

"Doctor!" River shouted in exasperation. Blasted man never would listen...she felt her gut clench as he snapped out orders, and couldn't resist snapping at him when he finished. "I hate you sometimes!"

"I know!" He grinned and got back to work, shifting cables with enthusiasm and using the sonic with abandon, obviously not caring what River thought of him. River took a firm hold on Jenny and started manhandling her back up the corridor "Mr. Lux, with me! Anita stay here - if he dies, I'll kill him!"

 

* * *

 

 

On the ride back up the gravity shaft, River pulled Jenny aside and murmured. "You'll have to help Mr. Lux on your own. I'm going back down to help your father."

Jenny glared at River Song and raised her chin. "If anyone goes to help him, it should be me!"

"Not this time." There were tears in River's eyes as she shook her head. "Not yet. You've still got too much ahead of you. And, anyway, it's my turn to do something stupidly magnificent. Something the pair of you, all this time you've known me, knew I'd have to do one day."

Before Jenny could say anything else, the platform reached the top and River pulled her into a quick hug despite that she was hugging a stiff, shocked girl who wasn't returning it. "Be safe and happy, Jenny. You'll understand it all...one day," River said, then turned the hug into a shove which sent Jenny stumbling into the arms of a very surprised Felman Lux. Before either of them could react, River shouted "Get on with priming the data cells! We're running out of time!" Then she used her sonic on the gravity platform and sent it zipping back down at dangerous speeds, leaving a gaping Jenny and startled Felman Lux behind her.

"But...but...it should be me going back to help my dad! It should be me!" Jenny shouted in frustration.

"Well, obviously she decided it should be her. Now come on, she's right. We're running out of time and we have a job to do. One that won't wait on the gravity platform coming back so you can go argue the point." He led her over to the terminals and asked, "You do know how to do this, right?"

"What? Oh... yes, of course I know how to do this," Jenny said, frowning at the terminal, still annoyed that it wasn't her going back to help her dad. But Lux was right, they needed to get to work. And so she sighed and worked at the terminal until it booted up enough so she could do what was needed. And, while they worked in silence, she spared a bit of her mind to wonder why that unexpected hug from River felt so much like the woman was saying goodbye...


	12. Chapter 12:  The End of Another Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I owned them, the show would have been very, very different. And we'd have seen more alien worlds...ahh, who'm I kidding? Doctor Who would probably never made it past the end of S4 if I owned it :P
> 
> AN: The end of the Library at last! With...complications :P
> 
> And assault-hugged is sort of borrowed from what my dogs like to do - bounce up and give assault-kisses :) But then, Jenny is her father's daughter, so...:D Still love for tkelparis who graciously keeps me from looking too stupid. She can't do anything about the actual story, but at least I don't look like a complete idiot when it comes to grammar thanks to her :D
> 
> Love to all you reviewers and readers!

* * *

 

Mr Lux and Jenny were still working hard at their terminals, when their work was interrupted by a man clearing his throat and saying "Excuse me". They both looked up, and Jenny felt a huge smile slowly spreading across her face when she saw that the previously empty room was now full of people.

She just stood there grinning like mad as Mr Lux went about hugging people at random, crowing in delight that her dad had done it. Well of course he'd done it, he was her dad and a genius! But a sudden dread filled her, and the grin slid off her face as she remembered what River Song had shouted at Dad before they'd left to go prime the terminals. 'It'll kill you stone dead!', she'd shouted. But what made Jenny run to meet Mr. Lux as he came back in from the balcony was remembering what else River had said. 'It'll burn out both your hearts, and don't think you'll regenerate!'. "Oh Dad...what did you do?"

"Look at that! Oh, look at that, he did it! 4,022 people! Saved!" he crowed again as Jenny finally got within speaking distance of him. He was so happy he hugged her too.

"Yeah, I know, and it's brilliant," She returned the hug, then gave him a pleadingly hopeful look. "Look, I know it's horrible of me to run off and leave you herding 4,022 people alone...but I'm...well, he's my dad, and I need to go make sure he's okay."

Mr. Lux gave her a sympathetic look, then patted her shoulder. "I can handle this. The Library systems are up again and they'll be an enormous help. You go check on your dad...and...thank him for me, will you?"

"I'll do that," Jenny nodded and flashed him a tiny smile. "And...I'll tell him." And off she went, dodging through the crowded room and back to the room with the gravity platform.

Except, of course, it wasn't there because River had used it to go back to help her dad. She weighed her options a moment, then muttered, "Dad's gonna kill me for this," and dove down the shaft head-first, using her sonic screwdriver to modulate the gravity field to keep from achieving terminal velocity. She tumbled mid-air about five seconds from landing to come down feet-first, and continued the tumble as she hit to roll to her feet and run down the corridor they'd gone down such a short time before. It seemed like a longer run than before, and she was dreading what she might find at the end of it.

She skidded to a stumbling halt as she saw nothing but a chair with an odd headpiece and cables draped over a burnt-looking spacesuit, and for a dreadful eternity of a moment her hearts sank despairingly low, dreading that - despite River's obvious sacrifice in saving all those people - her dad had done something stupid and vaporised himself too. But then she caught sight of River's TARDIS-like diary, with two sonics laid out on top of it, and the squareness gun beside it. That small pile lead her eyes to her dad, handcuffed to a pole, and she couldn't bring herself to care that he was just staring off into space - he was alive, he was still alive! She dashed over, dropped to her knees and threw herself into a tight hug, tears of relief falling to her cheeks and soaking his shoulder. "Dad! Oh, Dad, Dad..."

The Doctor slowly came out of his daze of self-recrimination and heartbreak when he was assault-hugged by his daughter. He closed his eyes, shutting out the sight of that horribly empty suit, and hugged his little girl close with his free arm as he murmured reassurances, so very glad his daughter had found him. So very, very glad.

A bit later, once Jenny had recovered from the rollercoaster of fear and relief, she used her sonic to get her dad free of the handcuffs, then sat back on her heels as he rubbed his wrist to ease where he'd rubbed it near-raw trying to get free. "Dad? What happened?"

He gave her a sad smile, eyes glinting unnaturally brightly in the available lighting. "River Song happened, Little Star. She knocked me out...she..." He trailed off and swallowed, trying to force the lump in his throat away.

"I...I need to know what happened, Dad. She...oh, she was frustrating, but she was starting to become someone I could've liked, eventually. In a hundred years or so." Jenny's eyes were glinting in the light too, and she swiped at them with the back of her hand, unwilling to cry again before she knew what exactly she was crying for.

Just as he'd thought he'd managed to clear that lump, seeing his daughter wipe at more tears brought it back. Not feeling like forcing words through that lump, he murmured in her mind. _I'll show you, Little Star. If you want to see it._

_I don't -want- to see it, Dad. I -need- to see it._ She gave him a quivery smile and scooted forward an inch so they could both reach the contact points easily. Then she inhaled sharply as the entire experience played out in her mind. A few bits stuck out, here and there - why did she have handcuffs, for instance, and why smile so flirtatiously about them? She didn't like the idea that River might have used them on Dad before! But she was too caught up in the whole experience, and then when her dad let her go, she was too busy thinking about what River had said about the last time she'd seen the them she was used to. Questions about handcuffs would have to wait to ask the woman herself, sometime in the future.

_"Funny thing is, this means you and Jenny have always known how I was going to die. All the time we've been together, with and without that amazing girl of yours, you both knew I was coming here. The last time I saw you - the future you, I mean - you turned up on my doorstep, with a new haircut and suit. And then Jenny showed up, freshly regenerated. And in a dress - I nearly died of shock right there - that tough woman willingly wearing a dress!"_ River had paused for a shaky laugh, and then continued. " _The two of you took me to Darillium to see the singing towers. Oh, what a night that was! The towers sang, and you both cried. Neither of you would tell me why, but I suppose you knew it was time. My time. Time to come to the Library. Jenny even checked to make sure I still had the squareness gun, and you...you gave me your screwdriver - that should've been a clue."_

She tucked that away for later thought, then shook herself back to the present and sighed. She knew she was going to be bringing up a sore spot, but she was simply unable to resist asking about it any longer. "Dad? You never did tell me - what's so important about her knowing your name? You said it like it was important, like it would stop River from...what's the one time you can tell someone your true name?"

He sighed and closed his eyes, filtering down the intensity of the confused mass of anger, grief and loss he was feeling for, and because of, River Song so he could answer his daughter properly. "I-" He stopped and cleared his throat, then started again. "A Time Lord's true name...it's the very essence of their being. Sharing it...is the deepest connection, the strongest bond possible. I'm sorry I brushed you off earlier, about her knowing it." He tried a smile, but it was wan and very sad. "I just...I didn't want to think about it because...well...the only time the true name is shared is...is during a wedding ceremony. To initiate the marriage bond between husband and wife."

And he hated that - he even almost despised River Song for being his future wife and not allowing him a scrap of hope that he could have Donna as his wife. Not that he thought Donna felt the same way, but he didn't think he could ever feel even a tenth as much for River as he did for Donna, especially with how reckless and callous River had acted for most of this brief time of knowing her. And he was so caught up in trying to seal away that emotional tangle that he almost didn't pay attention to his daughter's verbalised thoughts.

"Oh." Jenny paused in thought, somewhat disturbed that River Song, disturbing, complicated, frustrating River Song, would one day be her very annoying stepmother. And then she had another thought, and had to voice it. "Well, there's nothing stopping you from marrying someone else before her, is there? I mean...well, according to her, we'd never tell her about Mum. Maybe it wasn't just because losing her hurt too much...maybe we never told her about Mum because we didn't want River to be too jealous and stupid about trying to compete with our memories of Mum." Jenny didn't really see any problems with that, other than the obvious bit of that frustrating woman being her future stepmother. She still had her mum, because everything worked out okay with the downloads. And as long as Dad wasn't too stupid from knowing about his future wife, maybe, just maybe he could have Mum as his now-wife.

That sickly little smile of the Doctor's slowly became a real, bright smile. "Oh Jenny, you're a genius! Of course I could have another wife before River!" The smile dropped again as he felt he had to remind Jenny that her mum might not feel the same. "Buuuut...that all really depends on your mum, you know. Donna might not want to marry me."

"Daaad, Mum like-likes you. I know she does! You just have to...well...let her know you like-like her too." Jenny rolled her eyes and thought that both her parents were remarkably dense about this whole emotional connection they had - she knew they were that way from less than an hour after she was born, no matter how often they denied it, so why didn't they?

"Does she? Does she really?" The Doctor blinked at his daughter in astonishment.

"As Mum would say - duh! There is no way she'd kiss you after you'd put icky fishes in your mouth if she didn't like you more than just friends! That's when I knew for sure that you both liked each other like that and had lied to me when I was born - you were just trying to avoid a slap after pretty much saying you'd like to kiss her again, and she was embarrassed about kissing you in front of so many people. And if she didn't like you that way, then why was she muttering that you should skip the fishes next time?" Was she finally going to manage to get her parents together, properly? Oh, she hoped so - now if only Dad would get things right and not be an idiot about it...oh pleasepleaseplease, don't let him be an idiot!

"We...ah...we didn't lie to you, Jenny." He fumbled his words a bit as he got to his feet, still reeling internally from the sudden burst of hope that Donna might one day properly be _his_ Donna. He offered his daughter his hand to help her up as he continued. "We just...well, we just weren't seeing it for ourselves. I certainly wasn't. Not then."

"And yet everyone else we've run into have thought you two were together-together. Even Nan and Great-Gramps are wondering when you two are going to stop dancing around it. You two are so silly sometimes!" She grinned and let her dad help her up, even though she didn't need it. And she would have continued teasing Dad about Mum...but her eyes fell on that diary of River's again, and the size difference between the two sonic screwdrivers got her attention. "Dad? Why's River's sonic so much thicker than yours?"

The Doctor was quite relieved that his daughter had stopped teasing him about Donna, and leapt on the subject change. "Well, it does have red settings and dampers...whatever those are...so obviously it'd be thicker to have the space for the circuitry."

"No, but really Dad," Jenny said, as she pulled her own sonic out and laid it out beside his and River's to compare. "You made my sonic slimmer, because my hands are so much smaller than yours - but my sonic does everything yours does. So why, when you're capable of miniaturising the insides of a sonic screwdriver by half, is hers so much thicker? It shouldn't be twice as thick as yours even with all the extra doo-dads - maybe half again as thick at the most!"

Mouth open in the middle of an automatic retort, it finally sank in what his daughter was trying to express, and he picked River's sonic up, as well as his own, then started thinking aloud. "That is odd. Hmmm... thing is, future me had years to think about it, all those years to think of a way to save her, and what he did was give her a screwdriver. Why would I do that?" He absently pocketed his screwdriver, then turned River's over in his hands.

Sensing that her dad was on the brink of a revelation, she kept quiet while he rambled...and then her eyes opened very wide as he found a part of the sonic that would open. Inside, nestled in the unused space that had first caught her attention, was a neural relay calmly blinking greenly at them. A neural relay that could only belong to one person.

The Doctor grinned at his daughter and held the sonic flat on his palm so they could both see the neural relay. "Oh! Oh! Oh, look at that! I'm very, very good!"

Almost afraid to ask, Jenny looked from the neural relay to her dad, a hopeful smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Dad, did you do what I think you just did?"

"Oh yes!" His grin was shining brightly enough to light the entire room. "I've saved her!" He ran off toward the node that had Charlotte Lux's face, and Jenny followed, but only after she had scooped up the squareness gun and the diary, both stuffed into separate pockets of her jacket as she ran to keep her dad from worrying.

She caught him up just in time to see him plug River's sonic into the main computer interface behind the Node, and they stood together and watched the crackling light-show that indicated that River was being uploaded into the computer. Still smiling, the pair turned to Charlotte, and the Doctor said. "Thanks for sharing your world with her, Charlotte."

"She's seen and done so much - she's got so many stories to tell! Her and the others I saved." Her smile turned impish and she winked at them. "I'm such a clever girl."

Jenny beamed at Charlotte. "I'm glad to hear you managed to save them too. Thank you!"

The Doctor wrapped an arm around his daughter and nodded to Charlotte. "I'll seal this area off, and once everyone leaves, the planet will be quarantined. The shadows will roam, but no one will be threatened ever again."

"I've got company now," Charlotte smiled. "I'll never be alone, but it'll never be so crowded again either," Her eyes started drifting shut, and Jenny and the Doctor backed up a couple of steps.

"Sweet dreams, Charlotte," the pair of Time Lords murmured, and then left the room, sealing it off as they exited.

 

* * *

 

They boarded the gravity platform in silence, and the Doctor set it in motion. As it began its slow ascent, Jenny scowled and began pacing in little circles.

The pacing got the Doctor's attention, so he asked. "Jenny? What's wrong?"

"This thing!" she almost shouted. "It's so slow, and we were down here a long time, and Mum's got to be worrying herself sick about us!"

"Ah," He nodded, feeling a not inconsiderable amount of urgency to find Donna himself. "Well, lets see what we can do about that then!" He pulled out his sonic from its usual pocket, adjusted the settings and aimed it at the gravity platform. "Hold on tight!"

Jenny yipped and grabbed hold of him as the platform suddenly accelerated - rather like the ascent of the fastest high-speed lift imaginable. It was a brilliant ride though, except for the deceleration at the end. That, she thought, was very annoying. Still, at least now she understood why people would say their stomachs had been left behind...she wasn't sure hers was where it ought to be either. Well, not for a few seconds anyway.

Once up, they only paused long enough to use both their sonics to seal off the gravity platform forever, keeping Charlotte Lux - CAL - even safer from being meddled with. Then they were off and running, vaulting anything inanimate in their way, and leaving hasty Excuse me's or Sorry's behind as they pushed their way through the animate obstacles, searching for that wonderful ginger hair belonging to their Donna the entire way.

When they did find Donna, the reunion didn't go quite as well as Jenny had hoped. Oh yes, her parents had hugged each other like she'd hoped to see... but after she'd gotten her own tight hug, and they'd found a spot to sit down and catch up in, that's when it all went skewgee. When Mum had been in that virtual world of CAL's crowded mainframe, she'd not remembered them at all. She'd been made to forget them...and she'd been married to some guy named Lee. She'd had kids too, which made Jenny feel enormously envious even though they weren't anything more than creations of the computer. They'd been real to her mum, and so had the marriage. And worse, she couldn't understand how her dad, given that he loved Mum, could be so supportive of her finding this other guy, even to the point of giving her suggestions on how to find him. By the time her mum had gone off to use a terminal and Dad's suggestions, Jenny felt so lost and confused she didn't even know how to begin to ask why. All she could do was look at her dad, anguish clear in her eyes.

The Doctor had felt gutted as he listened to Donna's tale of the seven virtual years she'd lived inside the faux-world CAL had made to occupy over four thousand minds. He had known, in some part of his mind, that CAL would make her forget the outside world - the glimpse of shocked surprise on her face when he'd got that momentary image of her had been the first clue - but he'd never expected that Donna would marry someone else while she was in there. Still, he wanted her to be happy, so he gave her suggestions on how to find her Lee out in the real world and watched her walk away. Turning to his daughter, his hearts twinged horribly at the lost and anguished look on her face and he pulled her into a hug.

"Sometimes...sometimes, you have to let the people you love go, because their happiness means so very much to you." _And Donna's happiness means so much to me that I can't help but give her all the help I can to find it._

_Even if she leaves us?_ The thought was almost a wail, and she hid her face in his chest, nearly breaking down, both from the thought of losing her mum and that she'd potentially been so horribly wrong about their future. _We can't lose Mum - we can't! I...we need her too much!_

_Shhshhshh. She loves you, Little Star. And she won't give up her mum and Wilf either - if she finds him, she'll bring her Lee back, and we'll...well, we'll just have to see what happens after that._ He was putting on a good face for Jenny's sake, but he knew in his hearts that if Donna returned with this Lee, she wouldn't be staying with them long. Couldn't, because even if she didn't want to settle down, he would end up hating the man for stealing his Donna away, which would drive them both away sooner rather than later. He would just have to wait... and hope that she didn't find him, no matter how the selfishness of it made his guts writhe in guilt.

_I don't want to_. Face hidden from her dad, Jenny could pout and sulk to her hearts' content. She didn't want another person - another man - aboard the TARDIS. She just wanted her parents and her. _But...if she can find him - if he feels the same about her - I'll put up with it. Somehow. But I won't ever like it._

_You'll tolerate him for your mum's sake. Just like I will have to try and do the same._ He sighed and let go his daughter, a very weak attempt at a smile on his face when she could see it. "Come on, let's go wait for her where she can see us."

 

* * *

 

At a terminal out of the line of the keen eyesight of the Time Lords she travelled and lived with, Donna leant against the desk with a sigh. She hadn't really needed the Doctor's suggestions on how to find Lee - she'd worked in Hounslow Library for six months and knew how to find things and people on a library computer. Even a weird 51st century computer. But it was sweet of him to offer his help...although it also made her think about that glint of a look in his eye when he had. Like he hadn't wanted to, but was doing it for her sake. Doing it to make her happy... and wasn't that making feelings revive that made this whole thing more complicated? 

She typed in the most common spellings of 'Lee MacAvoy', but didn't set the search running. Not just yet - she wanted time. Time to think... think about Lee and the Doctor, and how she felt about each of them. Maybe she should think about their respective faults? Oh, she could be on that for ages with the Doctor! Pompous and arrogant, egotistical and touting his superior knowledge quite frequently, and other times he was such a complete dumbo, and he talked so much and barely said a thing most of the time! And that was just for starters - she could go on all day and probably still not cover all his annoying traits, let alone his flaws!

Lee, on the other hand, she thought as she finally set the search going, he didn't have but the one fault of hardly being able to speak at times. Otherwise he... didn't... have... any. The perfect man, any woman's dream. But was he really her dream? Was being married and having a house and kids really her dream anymore? Yeah, it had been devastating to lose her Joshua and Ella - still was, actually - and she'd be ages getting over them even though they weren't real. They had felt real in her heart, and that's what mattered. Lee did too... except... well, if she stopped and really thought about it, what she felt for the Doctor eclipsed what she'd felt for Lee.

No, that dream of a perfect man wasn't her dream anymore. Oh yeah, kids would be wonderful...but these days her dream was travelling with that alien nutter she'd come to love, and Jenny, the daughter of her heart. Not being settled down in a house... blimey, she couldn't even remember when she'd last wanted a house of her own when she wasn't in a virtual dreamworld! As the results of her search scrolled by - all four options reading 'Not present in the Library on that date' - she wasn't really surprised at how relieved she felt, and decided not to try any more of the possible alternate spellings.

Lee was a dream, that was all he was. A dream of a normal life, and normal just wasn't her anymore. Her life now was anything but normal - it was extraordinary and brilliant, and she wouldn't give that up a second time for anything.

 

* * *

 

Both Time Lords felt their hearts skip a couple beats in joy as Donna returned to them quite alone. They were both thrilled that Donna clearly hadn't found Lee, but while Jenny was simply not showing her delight in not having to deal with a strange man in the TARDIS, the Doctor was as concerned for Donna as he was joyous that she'd come back alone. He didn't like that odd look on her face. It looked a bit...lost, maybe? Confused? It was certainly sad and wistful... he just couldn't place the rest of it.

"Any luck?" He asked, concern plain to see on his face.

"No. There wasn't even anyone called Lee in the Library that day." She shrugged. "I s'pose he could've had a different name out here... but really, I don't think he was real. Not really real." Donna sighed and took up the space her two Time Lords had opened up for her between them.

The Doctor rested his hand on Donna's shoulder. "Maybe not." He knew he was only saying that for Donna's sake though. She looked so sad, and he couldn't stand that.

"Please." Donna scoffed, but didn't shrug his hand away. "I made up the perfect man. Gorgeous, adores me, and hardly able to speak a word. What's that say about me?"

Jenny took her mum's hand and squeezed it a bit. "Who says you made him up? It was probably the computer trying to keep you from questioning everything. Make up the perfect man, make sure you get with him, you don't ask questions which made for a more stable computer for a while. Which, while it sucked like an Electrolux, gave us time to save everyone."

"Yeah, probably." Donna sighed and returned the squeeze. "What about you two? Are you both all right?"

Jenny shrugged, still holding her mum's hand. "Yeah, I'm all right."

The Doctor smiled a bit crookedly at both his girls, then gently squeezed Donna's shoulder. "I'm always all right."

Donna just looked at them both, first Jenny, then the Doctor. "Is 'all right' special Time Lord code for 'really not all right at all'?"

His eyebrows crinkled in a quizzical expression. "Why?"

Donna sighed and her shoulders drooped a little. "Cos I'm 'all right' too."

"Oh mum," Jenny sighed and leaned her head on her mum's shoulder while her parents shared a look she didn't quite understand. Then her dad's hand trailed down her mum's arm until he could take her hand.

"Come on," he murmured, and led his little family out and away from the slowly-evacuating population of the Library. None of them looked back - none of them wanted to.

And so none of them saw a tall, dark-haired man attempting to speak, only to be teleported away before he could manage to get out one particular name.

 

* * *

 

They eventually found themselves alone on the balcony they'd first stepped onto when they'd arrived, what seemed like such a very long time ago, but according to the two Time Lords' senses was barely two hours.Jenny sighed, pulled River's diary out of her jacket pocket and laid it on the balustrade.

"You know," Donna started, "Your friend... Professor Song. She knew you in the future, but she didn't know me. What happens to me? Because when she heard my name, the way she looked at me..." She trailed off because she wasn't quite sure how to describe the look that had been on River Song's face then. Shock? Jealousy? Sorrow? Something of all three, maybe?

The Doctor kept his eyes on Donna, but reached for the book. "Donna...this is her diary. My future, and Jenny's. I could look you up. What do you think? Shall we peek at the end?"

Jenny waited, worried about her mum's answer. What if Mum wanted to look, and she was wrong and Dad never married her? And what if she was right? What would that do for and to them right now? She almost cheered in relief when her mum shook her head.

"Spoilers, right?" Donna asked with a wry smile.

"Right." He managed a small smile that nearly matched hers, and nodded when he saw certainty in her eyes. He turned away from the book and, taking Donna's hand in his, gestured Jenny to join them. "Come on then, you two. The next chapter's this way."

When they got back to the TARDIS, Jenny couldn't help but look around nervously because it was so dark in the room. She wanted to rush straight to the doors and get inside, but her dad was holding still about two feet from the Old Girl. She frowned as he raised his hand, but when he snapped his fingers and the doors opened, her jaw dropped in surprise. "River was right - you really can open the TARDIS by snapping your fingers!"

Her dad didn't say anything, just ushered them inside with a pleased little smirk, then once he'd got inside as well, he turned around and snapped his fingers to close the doors. That little smirk didn't last though - too much had happened today, and by the time they'd gotten into the Vortex, both her parents were silent, sad, and wouldn't look at each other.

That would have to change, she thought. But it could wait for a little while - only a little while though. And she'd only do something if they kept this up, because them being silent was just too weird.


	13. Interlude 3, Part 1: Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still just playing. Fun, isn't it? :)
> 
> AN: Oh, getting the Doctor and Donna talking again was hard. But once I remembered one of sunnsea's icons, it suddenly became a lot easier. And then they almost wouldn't shut up. But then, that's the Doctor and Donna for you ;) My beta tkelparis was thrilled by some of the events in this chapter, and I hope you'll all be too.
> 
> The phrase 'logic-shaped object' was originally coined, to the best of my knowledge, by Landstraad in his Sorting Hat fic. Hope he doesn't mind my borrowing it :) And the murder-mystery movie that gave Jenny the Grand Idea is an actual television movie, I think it was one of the Perry Mason ones. I just can't remember more of it, especially can't remember the title. Which sucks, cos from what I do remember, it was a good one. :P
> 
> Love to all you reviewers and readers!

* * *

 

It had been three days since they'd left the Library, and in those three days Jenny had become more and more frustrated. Neither of her parents would stay long in the same room except for meals, and even then the only words spoken were inanities like 'pass the jam' and so forth. The silence and weird distance between her parents were combining to send her 'round the twist, and eventually she'd found herself in the console room to talk to the TARDIS about it. Well, she could actually talk to the TARDIS from any room, but she was in the console room because her dad wasn't even tinkering, and that was scary. Even if the TARDIS did like the lack of unsupervised mallet-ing.

"Now what do I do?" The question was asked both aloud and telepathically as she flopped on the jump seat, hoping that the TARDIS would have a few pearls of wisdom for her. She was barely even a month in existence, and something like this was beyond her small experience, and far, far beyond the soldier's programming she was born with.

What she got was a mental hug and a sigh. _There isn't much either of us can do, Little One. They have emotional hurts, not physical ones. And there is no medicine or machine that can help with non-physical injuries._

_I know that! But I have to do something to help them!_ Jenny sighed and eyed the console speculatively. Maybe if she took them somewhere else, somewhere nice...maybe that would help?

But before she could even get to her feet, she received the mental equivalent of a swat to her rear. _No. While taking them somewhere nice might help Our Ginger, it would merely allow My Thief to hide his hurts in anger that you dared take me somewhere without his guidance._

_He'd shout and yell and nothing would get fixed, yeah. I guess you're right about that._ Jenny slid off the seat and started pacing the cavernous room in frustration, the grilled floor ringing softly under her feet. _There has to be something I can do! Something that won't end in shouting...but all I can think of is to trick them into a room together and lock them in. And I'll still get shouted at for that._

_Perhaps yes, perhaps no. But you should try it, Little One. It is better than doing nothing._ The TARDIS would have sighed if she could. If she could have kept hold of Their Ginger when the teleport misfired and stole her away, then she could have helped Her Thief. But now both of them were hurting, and the Little One didn't have enough experience...

_I suppose. At least it won't hurt. Well, no more than we're all already hurting, anyway._ Jenny paused and tilted her head at the central column, distracted for a moment. _Why do you always call Dad Your Thief and Mum Our Ginger and me Little One?_

_Because I stole him and he stole me, long and long and long ago. Oh so very long ago...perhaps one day he will tell you that story. You are Little One because you are small and young...perhaps I will find another name for you when you are older. As for Our Ginger, that is what she is. Ours._

_Oh. Well that pretty much makes something that resembles a logic-shaped object. But you'd better think about a new name for me, cause I won't be young and little forever! And...thanks._ Jenny smiled and patted the console, then, feeling a tiny bit better, went off to have some tea while she plotted on just how to trick her parents into the same room so she could get them to talk.

Again, the TARDIS would have sighed if she could have. Even though she'd loved and lived with Her Thief for millennia, she still didn't quite understand the lives of either he or his biped companions, nor, truthfully, did any of his humans understand her. Although Their Ginger came the closest, other than Her Thief - enough that the TARDIS cared about her pain and wished it eased. Perhaps the Little One would find a way to help despite her doubts... her very existence had already done so much for her Thief. The TARDIS shook her metaphorical head and turned her attention to ensuring that she didn't run into anything that would interrupt the Little One's efforts.

 

* * *

 

A few hours and several cups of tea later, Jenny still didn't really have a plan other than 'lock her parents in a room together', and by then it was time for the 'evening' meal. Which was hard to sit through because it was the same as all the other meals for the last three days. Silent. It had her so on edge she couldn't even finish, just excused herself from the table with her meal half-eaten. She did linger for a minute or two outside the room though, hoping her unusual behaviour would get her mum and dad talking. Her hopes were in vain though, as the only words exchanged were her dad saying he'd put her plate in the warmer so she could come back to it, and a mumbled 'yeah' from her mum.

Near tears, she silently walked away and went for a long ramble through the interior of the TARDIS. The Old Girl wouldn't let her get lost, and she didn't feel like being in her bedroom. Or the library, no matter how much brighter the lighting had become since they'd gone to The Library. It was still a bit creepy to be surrounded by all those books, although she supposed she'd get over it eventually.

She eventually ended up in the telly room and flipped aimlessly through the endless channels until she saw an old Earth movie. It wasn't the plot that intrigued her, although it was vaguely reminiscent of one of Agatha's novels; no, it was one of the plot devices that got her attention - a video will, wherein the murder victim told all of his heirs exactly what he thought of them.

That sparked an idea in her mind, and she smiled for the first time in what felt like ages. _TARDIS? Have we got video recording equipment?_

_Yes_ , the TARDIS replied, intrigued. _I do. What are you thinking, Little One?_

_I'm thinking I'll record exactly what I want to say to Mum and Dad, then get you to help me lock them in here and have the message play. And then we keep them locked in for a while after that and hope they talk. If that doesn't work, then nothing I can do will, and I..._ She sniffed and rubbed her eyes. _Well, anyway. What do you think?_

_I think it could work_ , was the reply, along with a cabinet in the wall opening to reveal a video camera with a remote and a tripod for it to stand on.

_Brilliant!_ Jenny bounced for the first time in three days and set the camera up, then took an hour to carefully work out just what she wanted to say to her parents. And crossed her fingers that she could get them talking again.

The next 'morning', after another uncomfortable breakfast, Jenny managed to catch her dad alone, before he could slip off to wherever he'd been going the last few days. "Dad? Could we have more lessons today?"

"Course we can," He agreed with a small smile, and a twinge of guilt that he'd been neglecting his daughter's education for his own problems and fretting over Donna. "What did you want to learn today?"

"Astronomy? We can run tapes of stars on the telly and you can tell me all about them." She mentally crossed her fingers that this would work, because she couldn't think of any other reason to get him in the telly room.

"We-ell, I suppose we could do that," he reluctantly agreed, then rubbed the back of his neck. "Used to have a planetarium room where we could do holographic projections, but I can't remember where it's got off to..."

"Great!" She bounced and gave him a quick hug before he could remember that the console room was capable of doing the same thing as the lost planetarium room. "I'll meet you there in a few minutes - I need to grab something first!"And she took off before her slightly befuddled father could ask what she needed to get.

 

* * *

 

Thanks to the Old Girl's help, it barely took her a minute to get to her mum's room, and she knocked and was allowed in. "Hi mum."

"Hullo sweetheart," Donna smiled tiredly at her daughter from the bed. She was propped up on a plethora of pillows, and had been trying to read something, although the book wasn't being paid much attention to.

"You don't look so good...I can come back later?" Jenny worried her lip nervously. She'd just thought her mum was depressed at breakfast, but now that they were in her bedroom, she could see her mum looked worse than that. Almost...ill.

"Nah, s'all right. Just...not sleeping well." Donna shook her head and smiled again as Jenny sat on her bed with a little bounce. She was glad to see one of them could be cheerful again after that living nightmare they'd been through.

"Oh. M'sorry to hear that." She still couldn't refrain bouncing slightly as she sat on her mum's bed. "I wanted to know if you could help me learn more about Earth culture."

"Course I can dearling," Donna marked her place in the book she'd been reading and laid it aside. "What did you want to learn about today? Think we already covered weddings."

"Well, that's just it," Jenny looked down at her hands, and hoped she could get this part right too. "I was reading some novels, and in one of them one of the characters was talking about immersion in a language to learn it faster. So...I know we can't go back to Earth and leave me there, but I was wondering if watching telly shows would be the next best thing? Immerse me in the culture by proxy, and then you're there to explain the confusing bits."

Donna tilted her head, and stared at Jenny. Her daughter was awfully fidgety for such a simple request...then it hit her. She'd been so withdrawn since the Library, trying to get her head straight, that Jenny probably thought she'd get rejected. "I think it's a brilliant idea, Jenny. We'll make an all-day marathon out of it...unless you have lessons with your dad too?"

"Nope," Jenny made a face at the lie, but it was for a good cause. And making a face let her mum think she was annoyed at her dad. "He vanished off before I could remind him I hadn't had any recently, and I haven't been able to find him. So...free day for us."

"Sounds good." Donna stretched and stood, then threw on an old, nearly shapeless cardie on over her t-shirt and slacks, for comfort. "I'll meet you there, all right?"

"Fine by me! I'll just go get stuff set up!" Jenny bounced up, hugged her mum, then ran off before she could say anything else. Her dad was gonna get a mild rollicking for the trick she'd just pulled, but they'd be talking, and then they'd have her message. It was going to work! Well, at least the locking them in a room together bit... only time would tell if the rest of it would.

 

* * *

 

About five minutes later, Donna walked into the telly room to find the Doctor standing there in shirtsleeves and slacks, looking puzzled. "Oi! So now you finally decide to show your face? Right when Jenny and I are supposed to have an Earth culture telly day?"

The Doctor jumped, then spun round to face Donna. "What do you mean, finally decide to show my face? I've been here waiting for Jenny so we could use the telly to do an astronomy lesson."

Donna's eyes narrowed, and she growled. "Oh that girl... she said she couldn't find you..." She trailed off and turned around to stalk out of the room - and stumbled backward, almost running into the Doctor when the door slammed shut, the distinctive 'click' of a lock following the echoing noise.

The Doctor had grabbed Donna's shoulders when she stumbled, but quickly let go once she was steady on her feet. He was about to go sonic the lock open and go give Jenny a stern lecture about lying to her parents when the very large plasma-screen television hissed with static before resolving into an image.

Displaying a very sheepish looking Jenny, who squirmed as though she could sense her parents' disapproving glares, then started talking. _"Hi Mum, hi Dad. I suppose I ought to apologise for locking you both in the telly room...but I'm really not sorry about it."_

The sheepish expression faded to be replaced by a frown. _"I'm not sorry, and I'll take any punishment you two care to hand out. But the TARDIS agrees with me that you two can't go on like this, not talking to each other. It's driving her bonkers with worry and, frankly, it's terrifying me. This was the only thing we could think of that would work, locking you two in the room together and letting you work it out."_

Jenny's recorded image sighed then and looked down at her hands, then back up to seemingly pin both parents with a pleading look. _"Please...please at least try to talk to each other. I need both of you to be able to talk to each other as well as me...I've felt so adrift since the Library...please?"_

As the image sniffled and tried to repress tears, both the Doctor and Donna squirmed, and wondered how they could have missed how upset Jenny was; even in the midst of their own personal problems they really ought to have noticed how upset Jenny was recently.

_"Anyway,"_ the message continued, once Jenny had got hold of herself again. _"TARDIS said she'd let you out if you went 'till lunch without talking, and I suppose if that happens I'll just ask her to take us back to Chiswick...and if Nan and Great-Gramps can't help you two...well, I think I'll stay with them for a while, cos I just can't take this silence anymore."_

A tear escaped to run down her cheek, and Jenny bravely tried to smile anyway. _"I do love both of you, and I hope, even if you don't start talking to each other, that you can forgive me for tricking you together and locking you in. And...I guess that's all I really have to say, other than see you when you get out."_

Donna sighed after the screen went blank, and was silent for quite some time before she managed to put her thoughts into words. "Well that's wizard. How can I yell at her for lying to us when she did it for what she saw as a good cause?"

"I know what you mean," he murmured in reply, then sighed and rubbed his face. "I knew I'd be a failure as a dad...I just didn't know it'd happen so soon."

"What brought that on, Spaceman?" Donna idly asked as she looked around for the telly control. Of course she couldn't find it - Jenny had made sure neither of them would have a distraction.

"I haven't even talked to her about anything since...well, I haven't even asked her how she's been. Just been burying myself in the TARDIS and my own problems. When you're a dad...isn't the child supposed to come first?" He started pacing about the telly room, then kicked the wall. "Why didn't I see it?"

"We've barely had her around for a month, Time Boy. Takes more than that to get used to being a parent. And it's easy to think she can take care of herself, cos she looks old enough to," Donna sighed and settled at one end of the sofa to stay out of his path. And then she snickered.

"What?" He whirled about to face her, frowning. "What's so funny?"

"Look at us," she said, gesturing from herself to him. "Dunno why we weren't talking, but we're nattering away now cos of her."

"That's a good question though, Donna." He said as he joined her on the sofa, albeit at the other end. "Why haven't you been nagging me to get out of my head and talk?"

"I'm not the only one in this ship with a gob - why haven't you talked to me?" She snapped at him, annoyed that he thought she was a nag.

"Because I was trying to give you time!" He half-shouted and leapt up from the couch to pace aimlessly once more. "You were hurting, and I was trying to give you time to come to grips with it so you'd be ready to share!"

"What?" She was both warmed and irked by that revelation. Warmed that he cared, but mad that he hadn't thought to come and see if she needed him, and the anger won out. "Did it never occur to you," she growled as she stood up and planted herself in his path. "That I might need you? Need your support, if only in hugs and telling me it'd be all right eventually?"

He stood there a moment, mouth opening and closing soundlessly while he tried to assimilate the understanding that he'd managed to misread everything so badly. Finally he managed to force out, rather miserably. "I...I thought, with you withdrawing like that, that you wanted to be alone."

She hated it when he did things like that. When he went all droopy like a miserable puppy, it took the wind out of her sails and made her have to take a different tack. She sighed and stepped aside so he could pace again. "Well I did...sort of. For the first day. But...oh, what's the use?" She whirled away from him and stalked off to the other side of the room, trying to hide her tears. She'd almost blurted everything out right there, and that would've ruined everything.

"But what, Donna?" He asked, and when he didn't get an answer, followed her over to the other side of the room and tentatively laid his hands on her shoulders. "I'm here, now, Donna. But what?"

"But everything's changed, that's what!" She wriggled, trying to get him to let her go. Figured he'd pick now to be a stubborn git.

"Nothing's really changed," he murmured, still holding on to her despite her wriggling. "Except, possibly...nah, that's not it. Not for you," He sighed and finally let her go, then took a few steps back to give her the space she seemed to want.

"What do you mean, 'not for me', you prawn? What?" She didn't turn to face him though, didn't want him to see she was about to lose the battle with tears. Why did she have to fall in love with him anyway? He was still in love with Rose, and she respected that. Maybe it should be her going back to Chiswick to stay, instead of Jenny. Even though that would destroy her.

He sighed, took another step backward, and rubbed the back of his neck. And laughed softly, bitterly. "The Oncoming Storm, afraid of saying a few words. Oh, how worlds would laugh." Then he sighed again and waited a moment for Donna to turn around. Since she wouldn't, he decided to just blurt it out to her back. At least she couldn't slap him with her back turned, right?

"I've fallen in love with you, Donna Noble. Don't know when, certainly don't know how, but I love you." Ah, there, she turned around and he could say the rest of it to her face. "I realised it when I saw your face on the Node and thought," He choked, and he could feel his eyes burning at the memory. "I thought I'd killed you trying to save you, and that's when I knew. Just when it was - apparently - too late."

She was oddly silent, and he just rambled on, knowing it was probably losing him his best friend ever, and he'd have to apologise to Jenny for chasing her mum away, but now that he'd finally taken the chance to bare his hearts, the words just kept spilling out of him. "I might have died just standing there, if not for River Song - Jenny was as stunned as I was, and all I could think was that I'd killed you. I was devastated, Donna," he continued, meeting her eyes, trying to see what she was thinking, but unable to stop talking. "You've no idea how delighted I was when we got a brief glimpse of you later. You'd gone from dead to alive and I was so overjoyed I couldn't think of anything else but that everything would somehow be all right because you were alive to be found."

He couldn't read the expression on her face, though part of it was shock, he knew that much at least, but she was still quiet so he rambled on to the finish, trying to keep her there even with the changes in his feelings being revealed. For Jenny's sake if not his own. "You're my best friend, Donna, that hasn't changed, and I know you said you weren't mating with me and I'm not asking you to consider it, I just had to tell you how I felt while I still had the chance. Please, don't think about leaving us," he risked coming closer so she could slap him or whatever she felt like. "I don't want to lose you and your friendship, even though you don't feel the same most likely, and I know it would kill Jenny to lose you because of her thick old Dad...and I'll do anything if you'll just agree to stay and keep being my best mate in the whole universe...but...Donna? Say something, anything, even if it's to tell me to take you home right now, please-"

Donna was stunned because she couldn't believe what was pouring out of the Doctor's mouth. He loved her? Loud-mouthed, ginger, bolshy her? Loved her enough that he'd stand there and die of the shock of losing her? This was almost unbelievable, except that it was really him stood there, babbling away just like always. And it wasn't until he started babbling about her wanting to go home that she found her voice to interrupt him.

"Shut up and give me a chance to get a word in edgewise, Spaceman," she grumbled, then evaded him to return to the sofa, where she plopped down and started rubbing her temples. Noting he'd followed her like a puppy to end up on the other side of the seating, she asked, because she had to. "But you...what about Rose?"

He sighed and rested his elbows on his knees, then rested his chin in his hands. "Rose... was my lifeline after the war. She saved me from drowning in my own guilt and self-hatred and loneliness. But..." He huffed out a huge sigh and leant back, looking at Donna with all masks down. "She's gone, and it took me a while to get over that." He quirked a sad smile and shrugged. "It took a long time plus hurting a good friend, but... it doesn't hurt when I think of her anymore. I've finally managed to let her go."

He knew he was taking a big risk, but since she'd let her hands drop to her lap, he scooted closer, reached out and took her hands in his. "Most of the time I can't stop thinking about you. Your smile, especially when I've taken you somewhere new and wonderful, your laugh... how you're not afraid to get in my face and shout at me when you think I'm wrong. The way you get such a smugly brilliant look whenever you point out a little thing that's a clue to the big problems. How you're always there when I need a hand to hold...or someone to hug. And all I want is for us to be together, however you want it to be." A bitter little laugh escaped him, and he tried to let go her hands but she was holding on to him now. "If you don't want anything but friendship from me, it'd be justice for how I accidentally led Martha on...but I can survive anything as long as I know you're here. Or at least somewhere in the universe, and hopefully not hating me?"

For a good few minutes Donna couldn't think of anything to say, but she kept him silent by squeezing his hands when he opened his mouth to keep babbling. Until at last, finally, she found the words. "You daft, adorable, loveable prawn. God, we are both such idiots... if one of us had decided to talk lots earlier, I wouldn't have been buried in my room the last few days trying to change how I feel about you."

He opened his mouth, but she freed a hand and laid her fingers over his lips. "Shush. You had your say, now it's my turn. I figured out that I love you when we were still... there... and I'd gone off to look for Lee. Couldn't stop comparing the two of you in my head, and you kept coming out on top. And then, when I was happy I couldn't find him, that's when I knew for sure I was in love with you too. But... I thought you were still pining for Rose, and you never showed up to talk to me, so I've been trying to shove it all down so I wouldn't have to tell you and then leave you so you wouldn't be worried I'd do something stupid." She moved her hand from his lips and used it to wipe at the tears on her face. "I couldn't bear the thought of telling you how I felt, and finding out you couldn't stand me that way. And I knew I wouldn't survive you deciding to drop me back with Mum and Gramps." She sniffed hard and managed a wobbly smile when she felt him squeeze her hand.

"Oh Donna, I really am an idiot. I should've come to talk to you ages ago." He gave her a sad smile and used his free hand to wipe away her fresh tears. "Can you forgive me?"

"Only if you do me for not tracking you down and shouting you out of your mopes," Her smile got a bit stronger, but then it fell away and she sighed. "And somehow we're gonna have to forgive each other for not noticing how our double case of the mopes was affecting Jenny."

He managed a real chuckle then, and, daringly, scooted closer to wrap Donna in a hug. "And we're going to have to find some way to both punish her for this trick, and yet thank her for the results of it."

She snuggled into his arms with a contented purr, and if she'd had any further doubts that she was really in love they'd have been washed away by how much like coming home that hug felt. "She can wash dishes for a week. And has to sit through those lessons she used to trick us here."

"Yeaaah, but she'll have fun with those. Wash dishes and do the cooking?" They both shuddered because, if it didn't involve putting the kettle on or slapping sandwiches together, Jenny was a horrible cook. "Nope...oh, wait! Cooking lessons! That's perfect! And maybe, just maybe, she'll stop burning toast out of the bargain, as well as be punished for locking us in."

Donna smiled at his enthusiasm and poked him in the side. "You're a better Dad than you think, you know that right?"

"Really?" He gave her a sceptical look.

"Really," She grinned and leant forward. She'd only meant to give him a quick peck, but he'd leant forward when she did, and then when their lips touched... well, a quick peck quickly turned into a long and leisurely exploration, and so tender and full of emotion that it would have been expected to be in a Mills and Boone, if the tale of their lives had been a book.

They finally parted, rather breathless, and stared at each other with huge eyes. "I-ah-um...well, I wasn't expecting that," he finally murmured, mostly lost in her eyes.

"Nor me," she replied, lost in his eyes as well. "S'nice though."

"Yeah," he breathed, then grinned at her. "Want to try it again?"

"Yeah," she smiled at him, then twined her fingers in his hair to pull him back to her.

They were so lost in their kissing and celebrating their new understanding of each other that they completely missed the door being unlocked. And lunch.

 

* * *

 

_Well, I finally did it. I finally got my parents talking to each other again. And as a bonus they're now together-together like I knew they would be if they gave it a chance! I'm so happy I could (and did!) dance all over the room!_

_Well, I danced until they told me I was getting punished for tricking them into the telly room and locking them in, anyway. I have cooking lessons as a punishment. Cooking lessons, how useless is that? I don't need to know how food goes from raw to cooked as long as I can make sandwiches! AND I have to wash all the dishes for a week, too! Cooking AND washing up after, how rubbish is that?! But at least it's only for a week, and my parents are together!_

_I have no idea when they're going to tell Nan and Great-Gramps though. They said we were staying in the Vortex for the length of my punishment, and that's going to be even more punishment! No going anywhere, no running, no adventures...just cooking and cleaning. Oh, and regular lessons resume, starting with the ones I used to trick them into the telly room with in the first place. Probably some point soon after that...I mean, they should be used to being together properly by the end of the week, right? So maybe in eight days they'll feel up to telling the rest of the family about them._

_Well, that decision's really up to them, I guess, but they're mostly better now! So, no more moping from me, nor complaining. Nor tear-spots messing up my writing either. All in all, even with the punishment, everything's brilliant and I can't wait for tomorrow and more of a regular routine! Even if I do have to have cooking lessons. Yuck. I don't care what Dad says, cooking is nothing like chemistry! It's all mess and muss and fuss, and... well at least there won't be any anchovies. I guess that's a bright side, right? Still, I'm going to see if I can't use the cute-kitten face Mum says I have to get out of it... I mean, cooking. Eww._

Jenny re-read her latest entry, smiled, and closed her diary then put it away in it's own little locked drawer. She knew her parents wouldn't come invading her privacy, but she had a locked drawer in her desk so she might as well use it, right?

A nice long shower later, and she was just getting into bed when her parents showed up to say good night. And having both of them come together to tuck her in and kiss her goodnight was the absolute best going to sleep moment she'd ever had in her short life. She'd have to do something nice for them sometime...but what could be nicer than getting them together? She'd sleep on it...maybe something would come to her...


	14. Interlude 3, Part 2: Holiday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: The missed trip to the beach gets made up for - big time. Well, after Jenny's punishment - you didn't really think she could cute her way out of it, did you? ;) Gallifreyans/Time Lords having evolved from cetacean-like animals came from a chat with tardis_mole where I was trying to figure out how the Doctor could interpret the sonic screwdriver without a readout screen or anything like that.
> 
> To the best of my knowledge, there are no such things as purple diamonds on Earth - however, I can be and often am mistaken, so feel free to let me know if I am. Other than the purple bits, the information on diamonds are as accurate as my research could make them. Likewise the bits about corals. However, diamond corals are a DW invention - this is just my best guess at how that could actually work.

They had somehow survived the week of attempting to teach Jenny how to cook. Without as much success as they'd been hoping for, but at least now she could heat up a tin of anything and not burn it, and she didn't burn toast anymore...oh, and she could make biscuits. That, he had said, was probably because she adored eating them so much. 'Just like her father,' Donna had replied. 'Makes stuff she likes to eat.'

Which had then lead to a bit of a teasing argument where he listed everything he could cook, over half of which he had either no real care for one way or the other, or an actual dislike for. Well, in this regeneration, anyway - after all, he'd liked pears in his sixth iteration! Pears! Eurgh! So who knew what his future selves would like... though he hoped there would always be an appreciation for bananas.

He grinned as he worked his way a bit further under the console to lubricate some of the other bits that needed it. That was a really brilliant idea of Jenny's, locking them up together. Plus, he'd had to admit she was right. Donna really did love him, just like their clever girl had said. They'd just had a few bumps before they could admit it.

Think of his clever girls and they appear, he thought as he crawled out from under the console just as they entered. "Hallo!" He beamed and rubbed at a smudge of... well, call it grease... on his cheekbone. "Thinking of going anywhere special today?"

"Yeah," Donna drawled, smirking at him rubbing the grease-smudge all over his cheek. "You, Spaceman, owe Jenny and me a trip to the beach."

"Oh I do, don't I?" A stained handkerchief was pulled from a pocket and he wiped his hands relatively clean, then swiped at his cheek. "Well, a trip to the beach sounds like a good thing before our next adventure. Any particular beach you had in mind?"

"Mmhmm." Donna took the handkerchief from her darling idiot and cleaned off the rest of the grease or whatever it was on his face. "Remember when you thought I was leaving you? When the Sontarans were meddling with the ATMOS and whatnot? You mentioned diamond coral reefs... and I was talking to Jenny about that, and we both decided we wanted to see those."

"Donna," the Doctor whinged while she cleaned his cheek. But the rest of his complaint was sidelined when she continued, and he grinned in delight. "Oooh, the diamond coral reefs of Katta Go Flo! Yeah, we can do that. Make days - might even try to make a week out of it, even." He'd even thought about taking them there to make up for the disastrous trip to the Library...why hadn't he followed up on it? Oh yeah, thinking he was going to lose Donna - he was a right idiot sometimes.

"A week at the beach? People do that?" Jenny asked, looking between her parents. Despite the lessons she'd had from both of them over the week of her punishment, she still didn't exactly get the idea of a relaxing trip. And she didn't really think her dad could manage something like that anyway. If they weren't in the Vortex, or visiting Nan and Great-Gramps, it seemed like they were always up to their necks in trouble.

"Yup," he nodded. "Not sure if we can stay a whole week through, but I'm sure we can manage at least three or four days before boredom kicks in."

"Sounds great," Donna started, then wagged a finger at him with a playful scowl. "There'd better be no wars, invading aliens, or giant aggressive intelligent crabs or lobsters! Or, God help you, squid! Just a beach, and some snorkeling or scuba diving around the reefs. Right?"

"Donna," He rolled his eyes. "There won't be any wars, it's a tourist destination and hasn't been invaded in ages, and there aren't any Macra, Krakken or giant intelligent lobsters on the planet. Nothing but fun in the sun. Or underwater."

"So, when can we go?" Jenny asked, an excited grin stretching across her face.

"How's half an hour sound? You two go pack, I'll do the same, then we'll set the coordinates and get going."

"Fantastic!" Jenny hugged her dad, then her mum, then dashed off down the hall, singing. "We're going to the be-ach, we're going to the be-ach! No more cooking, we're going to the beach!"

The two watched her go, then Donna snickered. "She really hated those cooking lessons, didn't she?"

"Yeaah," he replied, grinning. "Which made it a good punishment. But at least she doesn't burn anything anymore when she heats it up. Course, now sometimes it's half warm and half stone cold..."

"She learned to undercook. But she can make biscuits like a pro," Donna smirked, then playfully poked his ribs. "Skinnyboy, I stand by what I said. She's just like you, only she's a chocolate fiend and you're a banana-nutter."

"But bananas are good," He playfully pouted at her, and wondered if they could sneak some more kissing in. And... well, he couldn't help but wonder if they'd get further than the minor canoodling they'd been doing on this trip to Katta Go Flo.

"Yeah, but if you two had your way, it'd be banana and chocolate everything all the time, and I'd put on a stone and not be able to keep up with all the running." She quickly kissed that adorable pout of his, then backed off before he could pull her in for more. "Now, now, if I stayed and kept kissing you, we'd still be at it when Jenny came back all packed."

"Oh, all right," He sighed and rumpled his hair. "Ooh, and I bet she's got no idea of what to take to the beach either."

"No, probably not. Oh - I didn't think to ask, earlier, when we were talking about the beach...d'you think she knows how to swim?" Donna frowned in worry and nibbled her lip. "S'pose if she can't, we'll just have to extend our holiday a bit and teach her."

"Or delay leaving a little longer and toss her in the pool, see if her instincts do the job," the Doctor muttered as he gave her a pained smile. "Er, it hasn't really come up in our chats before, but Time Lords evolved from an aquatic mammal, rather than a primate like humans. Something like a cross between a dolphin and a sea otter is the closest I can come to describing it in a way you'd be able to visualise it. Swimming comes naturally...or at least I think it does. I don't recall ever having to learn how to swim, anyway."

Donna narrowed her eyes at him, then tilted her head as she thought about it. "Is that why the sonic screwdriver doesn't have anywhere to see readings? You can interpret the bleeps and buzzes when you're using it cos your evolutionary whatsit was like a dolphin? Like birds were dinosaurs once, and humans were sort of apes?"

"Evolutionary antecedent, yup!" He grinned in pride at how quickly she'd made the connection, especially about the sonic screwdriver, then raised an eyebrow as he had a sudden twinge of worry. "Is that...going to change anything with us?"

She rolled her eyes and lightly swatted him on the arm. "Only that - when we get that far - I'm restricting water play to something no deeper than the bathtub. I'm not drowning just cos you can naturally hold your breath longer than I can. Finding out you look human but evolved from a weird alien dolphin doesn't change that I've known you were an alien. Just clarifies what sort of alien." Then she blushed, because they hadn't yet talked about going so far as sex yet, and there she'd gone and just laid out conditions for the future!

He blushed too, but at the same time he had a silly, dopey grin on his face. She'd acted like it was a given that they'd get to that point sooner or later! Oh, sooner would be lovely! But later would be all right, he supposed. So long as they got there, and she'd just as much as promised that they would! "Right! I'll just make a note of that right now - no intimate activities in water deeper than a bathtub."

"You are horrible, Spaceman!" Her cheeks were trying to match her hair, but she was still grinning at him. Well, at the dopey grin on his face - he was such a bloke, grinning about future sex!

"Nah, not me! I'm just trying to be a good... well... boyfriend? That's the word, isn't it?" Unlike her, his blushing was fading, mostly because he was now remembering all his failings and becoming a bit sheepish. "Mind you, I'm rubbish at...romantic stuff." He heaved an almost-sigh, as he'd barely stopped himself from saying he was rubbish at weddings. It was a trifle too soon to talk about marriage.

"Meh. You're too old to be a _boy_ friend. Significant other's probably more accurate. And all the blokes I ever met are rubbish at romance, no surprise an alien bloke's rubbish at romance too." She smirked, glad to feel the heat finally leaving her cheeks. "So, want to go talk to Jenny about whether or not she can swim and then lets get packed? Or are we going to be stood here flirting when she gets back?"

"Much as I'd prefer the latter," he murmured as he pulled her into a surprise hug. "I think we'd best go pack and find out if Jenny can swim." He gave her a quick, firm kiss, then let her go and was running off down the hall before she could realise he was gone. "Come on, Donna! Time's a-wasting!"

"Oh you'd better run, Spaceman!" She shouted at his rapidly-vanishing back, but instead of following him, she took a detour to the Wardrobe. _He_ could find out if Jenny could swim - _sh_ e had to see if she could find a bikini for sunning in, now that she was a teensy bit flatter in the tummy. Yeah, her blue one-piece would probably blow his mind as it was, but she _really_ wanted to get him good now, after that kiss-and-run he just pulled!

The TARDIS giggled at Their Ginger's thoughts and lead her to the Wardrobe and the bikinis in her size on offer. Oh, Her Thief and Their Ginger were going to have so much fun! As would the Little One, so curious about everything. Hopefully she wouldn't be too curious about her parents, should they choose to extend their limits... there were some things the Little One just wasn't ready to see yet.

 

* * *

 

"I am curious about one thing, Doctor," Donna started as they left the TARDIS for their few days on Katta Go Flo. "How exactly does a diamond coral reef work? Was it a ton of diamonds that got shoved up to the sea floor and the corals just grew on them, or what?"

"We-ell, it's actually very fascinating, Donna. You know how Earth coral polyps secrete calcium carbonate to make their little limestone skeletons that eventually pile up to make the various coral formations depending on what sort of polyp they are?"

"Yeah, certified deep water scuba diver, remember? I know that bit, along with don't touch, cos the polyps are fragile that way. And some of 'em sting on top of that."

"Yes, well, some of them are right vicious for tiny little creatures. Well anyway, the coral polyps of Katta Go Flo don't secrete calcium carbonate. They secrete, or possibly exude, pure carbon in a diamond lattice - each little skeleton is a very tiny hollow little diamond. Which makes Katta Go Flo the only planet in the universe where diamonds aren't dependant on massive amounts of pressure and heat to form."

"No!" She stared at him, then got jostled a bit by Jenny, who was impatient to be going to see the reefs already. "You're not serious - they really secrete diamonds? Really? How does that work? And are there any colour variations, or is it just miles and miles of clear reefs?"

"It works just like Earth polyps secrete calcium carbonate. They just secrete their carbon in the diamond lattice allotrope, instead of adding calcium et cetera to make limestone. And yes, they do come in colours. It's a combination of the way diamonds elsewhere get colours - yellow and brown from more or less nitrogen in the matrix, blue from boron - and the equivalent to the zooxanthellae algae that live in symbiosis with Earth polyps that give Earth corals their colour. When those die in the polyps, they get converted just like any other food, and the elements that make them red or pink or green or orange or purple get extruded along with the carbon to make pink and red and green and orange and purple diamonds. Or intensify the yellow and brown and blue."

"But Dad," Jenny couldn't resist asking. "Wouldn't they all be black then, because the polyps are extruding bits of dead things?"

"Nope," he replied. "Katta Go Flo is also unique in that it doesn't have black diamonds. Those are from inclusions of all sorts of dark materials, and mostly happen with meteor impacts, although it's possible that others could form naturally. Just not in diamond coral reefs."

"So when do we get to go see them?" Jenny was almost squirming with eagerness - actual real live living diamonds! How brilliant was that?!

"Why don't we check in first, then see when we can manage a scuba diving trip?" Donna smiled at their little girl - she was so excited to go see the reefs that Donna thought she'd wriggle right out of her clothes.

 

* * *

 

Two days later, Donna stood in front of a full-length mirror in her room and admired the bikini she'd found in the TARDIS Wardrobe room. At least it wasn't a thong, she thought as she turned to look at the rear view and the green cloth covering her bottom. There was a line she wouldn't cross, even to tease her Spaceman, and walking around with nothing but a bit of floss running up her crack was it.

She turned back around and smirked at her reflection, admiring how the top gave her cleavage a bit of extra oomph, then tossed on a gauzy caftan while she continued to muse on the last few days. They'd found out that Jenny could swim like a little fish... or seal, given that they were mammals - not to mention Jenny's opinion of fish - and the first, half-day on planet had been spent finding out they had to wait two days for one of the dive boats to have room for all three of them. Booked solid they were. So they'd had to check out the other activities on offer, then they had a meal in the five-star restaurant and off to their suite.

Surfing and wind-surfing was yesterday, cos Jenny had wondered how it worked. And while both activities were easy enough for her to pick up now that she was fitter than she'd ever been in her life, she'd pretended to be utter pants at them. It was more fun that way, cos then her darling nutter insisted they do it together so he could 'show her how'. And oh, that had been brilliant, them pressed so close together while he 'taught' her how to balance! It gave her tingles, and she knew he'd enjoyed it too - he might be evolved from an alien dolphin, but he still had a noticable reaction to being that close to her!

Today, though, they'd decided on a quiet beach interlude before going to scuba around the reefs most of the day tomorrow, hence the bikini. It wouldn't fall off if she didn't go too deep, and it was perfect for lounging in. And teasing her alien man till he was even sillier than usual, which was the whole point of the thing.

Musing done, she picked up her packed beach bag, plopped a hat on her head and, sunglasses in hand, stepped out into the common room of the suite the Doctor had managed to get them, probably with the psychic paper. Just in time too, as her Time Lords were looking rather antsy. She couldn't wait to see his face when she ditched the cover-up and he saw the bikini!

 

* * *

 

_Dad?_ Jenny asked as she tossed a frisbee at him.

_Yes Little Star?_ He caught the frisbee and threw it back at her, along with a raised eyebrow.

_Why's your scent been muskier since you saw Mum in her bikini? And why'd you adjust yourself a bit when you were putting the lotion on her back so she wouldn't burn?_ She threw the frisbee back, then sighed as he missed it.

His jaw dropped in shocked surprise, then he sputtered, the frisbee bounced off his chest, and he had to swim after it a bit. Once he got it back, he spun it on his finger for a few moments to buy time to compose himself for a calm answer, then launched it back at his daughter. _Erm... well... ah... I've given you the basic biology lessons regarding reproduction, and how quite a few species do the activity for fun as well as offspring._

_Yeah,_ she grimaced, and then had to swim after the frisbee herself. Maybe asking embarrassing questions while playing frisbee wasn't the brightest idea, but she needed to know! _So, when you get muskier, it's a sign that you're wanting to mate with Mum for fun? Or is it offspring?_

_Nah, your mum's at the wrong point in her cycle for offspring. It'd just be for the fun...and the bonding even closer. People of most species that don't have actual mating seasons also use the act to become closer to their mate._

She threw the frisbee back at her dad finally, though it was way off the mark, and frowned curiously. _So...why aren't you and Mum mating yet?_

_Jenny Caelesta!_ He made a lunge for the frisbee, but ended up splashing down in the water in a belly-flop. He spat some water out and shook his head like a dog when he surfaced, and glowered at his overly-curious daughter. _When the time is right, Donna and I will mate. It isn't time yet._

_Why're you so mad, Dad? I'm just trying to understand,_ She made a face, complete with tiny pout, that made her look like a sad kitten.

He sighed and waded toward his daughter, then pulled her into a hug. _I know, I know. But that's private between your mum and I. And both partners have to want to mate at the same time, or nothing's going to happen._

_Oh._ She hugged her dad, then gave him an inquisitive look. _Should I ask Mum why she's not ready yet, then?_

_Oh Jenny._ He didn't know whether to laugh or cry at her innocent question, and finally settled on a smile and a sigh. _She'll be ready when she's ready, and I wouldn't want it any other way._

Jenny caught a twinge, just a flicker of emotion, then grinned at her dad and stole the frisbee. _Bet you're hoping the bikini means she's ready!_

And off she ran, splashing into shallower water, laughing, with her dad chasing after.

 

* * *

 

After the chase, they'd played frisbee a bit more, then gone back to join Donna at her lounger. Where the Doctor promptly claimed the next one and turned on his side so he could watch her. That bikini of hers managed the impossible by making her appear even more appealing than she already was.

Jenny shook out a beach towel and laid it on the sand between her parents, then sat and looked up at her mum. "Mum?"

"Yes Jenny?" Donna slid her sunglasses down her nose to look at the pair of them, and wondered why the Doctor was looking like he was about to die of embarrassment, complete with readying himself for face-palming.

"When can I get a bikini?" Jenny's blue eyes were bright with curiosity. Well, and the amusement of teasing her dad by going off at a different tangent, but she did kind of want to know about the bikini too.

"What?!" The Doctor sputtered and stared at his daughter. He'd not been expecting that, but the automatic answer of an overly-protective father came spilling out almost without him processing the words first. "The twelfth of never!"

"Isn't that a little extreme, Spaceman?" Donna asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

"No it isn't," He growled. He wasn't about to let his little girl wear anything that would attract more male attention than she was already getting. She wasn't going to be ready for that sort of thing for a very long time. A very, very, very long time. Twelfth of never long time.

"Oh, you," Donna couldn't help but smile at his sulking and glowering. "You're acting just like every other Dad in the universe when they realise their little girl's growing up."

She ignored his indignant sputtering - something about not being like any other Dad anywhen - then gave Jenny a curious look. "Ignoring your overprotective dad here for a moment, what's brought this on? When we went shopping, you didn't look too impressed with bikinis. Wrinkled your nose at them, actually. So...why d'you want a bikini now?"

Jenny shrugged. Bit more teasing and questioning, then she'd maybe see about going in and letting her parents have alone time to maybe decide they were finally going to get around to mating. "Dunno. I guess I just didn't realise how nice they could look on a person. They looked kind of useless on the mannequins."

When Jenny looked down at her hands, Donna raised her eyebrows then glanced over at her Spaceman. He looked like a thundercloud, so she thought she'd try and head off the Oncoming Dad before he went and did something stupid like threaten every unattached male in the place and get them thrown off the planet before they could see the diamond coral reefs.

"Well, yeah, they do look nice. But there's a reason I haven't joined you two in the water. It's cos the tops also have a habit of falling off. And then floating away, and then there's me left trying to cover up with just my hands. Not really practical and only really good for strolling about, or lounging in, mostly. So...while it probably won't be the twelfth of never until you get a bikini, it certainly won't be until you've got an interest in lounging around for a good part of a day."

Since the goal was to calm the Doctor down, she didn't bother mentioning that this particular one probably had less chance of falling off than the hotel had of falling down, if that stuff the TARDIS had supplied to help it stay on until she wanted it off worked like it was supposed to. And he was definitely calmer now. Actually, he was now far more interested in the thought of her losing her top, if his intense look meant anything. Made her tingly, knowing she could do that to him.

"But that's so boring!" Jenny looked up at her mum and frowned. "Dull, dull, dull! And I don't see how you can stand to lounge around all day anyway." Then she slanted a sideways look at her dad and rolled her eyes. He was musky again... but if her nose was right, so was Mum! Well, just a little, and it was sweeter than Dad's... but she was sure they were both interested in mating now. And they weren't even talking about mating, that was sooo weird! Maybe she should leave now, so they could get on with it?

"Catching up on my reading, sweetheart. I've been so distracted lately that I've fallen behind." Donna smiled at their girl, then stole a glance at the Doctor, who was toying with the bottle of sunscreen. "But, I suppose...if your dad was willing to slather me up with sunscreen again, then I could go play beach games with you two."

"Really? That'd be great!" Jenny grinned, though she wanted to huff in exasperation. All that time trying to get them together, and she'd thought they were finally going to seal the deal... and now Mum wanted to play frisbee? Oh, she was so confused! At least Dad looked more than happy to put more sunscreen on Mum...

The Doctor was rather relieved that his daughter had decided not to twit them about mating, and took a very firm grip on his biocontrol so he wouldn't accidentally give her a reason to start. Although Donna made it very hard ...er... difficult... to manage, rolling over like that so he could lotion her back.

There was a brief moment when Donna regretted having suggested beach games, because it felt so good to have his hands on her, but it was too early to slope off for a bit of private fun and games. And who knew what trouble Jenny would get into if they went off and left her alone? She'd probably be as big a trouble-magnet as her dad. So she just relaxed under his hands until he ended the rubdown at her feet. Then she rolled over - with her back to him so as to not give him any more problems than he likely already had - and lotioned her front.

Once she was done with that, she exchanged a mischevious grin with Jenny, stole the frisbee and ran off laughing with her two Time Lords following after. Which pretty much defined the rest of the day - frisbee, three-cornered beach volleyball with a beach ball, and lots and lots of laughing.

 

* * *

 

Later that night, after Jenny had gone to bed, Donna was idly caressing the Doctor's chest, following the lines of muscle. "Y'know, I have to wonder about you and your suits. You're nowhere near as skinny as they make you look - they bigger on the inside or something?"

"Something like that," he replied, and was glad to relax and not have to clamp down all the time now that Jenny was in bed. Meant he could enjoy Donna's touch without having to worry about his little girl deciding to try and encourage things along.

"Yeah? Really? Think you could make me a bigger on the inside bra then?" She rested her hand over one of his hearts and grinned up at him.

"What? Why would you want to look smaller? Your breasts are gorgeous!" He didn't get it - why would she want to hide those glorious curves?

"Doctor, my tits are double-D, actually borderline E-cup. Gets tiring, sometimes, holding them up all day. I'd kind of like to be able to run without having to brace them, too. Or squash them with a sports bra." Still, it was nice to have the girls appreciated - and it was fun to surprise the Doctor with a glimpse of more cleavage than normal. For an alien, he was such a tit-man!

"Sooo...you just want them smaller for running?" He asked, carefully, then wrapped his arm around her and stroked his hand down her back in a gentle caress. He'd have done other things, but they were both tired and wouldn't appreciate them.

"Yeah," she breathed, and shivered at his touch. She had a t-shirt on, but nothing under it because she was going to bed soon, and the touch of his hand...well, it made her wish she wasn't so tired. She didn't know if they were just that right or if it was all the time spent with just him while Jenny was finding out the downside to being a kid, but she was ready for a bit more than the canoodling they'd been doing. Just...not tonight. Too tired to enjoy it.

"I'll have to consult some books, but I think I could probably manage something. Even if it's only a sports bra that doesn't squish them." Oh, if only she wasn't so tired, and if he wasn't actually tired for a change, he'd do more - slide his hands under that shirt of hers and feel the silken skin on her back at the very least. But they were both tired, so he let it go with just tugging her into a snuggle.

"Oh, that'd be lovely Spaceman," She snuggled in and sighed contentedly, then yawned. "I could go to sleep right here, y'know."

"Should get you into bed then," he murmured, but didn't make any move to A) let her go, or 2) get up and carry her.

"Yeah, probably should." She was quiet for a minute, then something she'd noticed earlier in the day came back to her and made her ask. "Doctor? Why have you been looking uncomfortable off and on today?"

He sighed and ran his free hand through his hair, and snuggled her closer. "We-ell, that's because I found out today that Jenny's nose is at least as sensitive as mine, if not moreso. She can smell when I'm thinking about doing naughty things to you. And she teased me about telling you about it... so, I've been trying to keep myself under control so she wouldn't embarrass either of us." He leant down and kissed her briefly, then managed a crooked smile. "Never had such a hard time controlling my urges until I met you."

"Oh, really?" Donna thought back a little harder, comparing some of the odd looks she'd gotten from Jenny with times she'd been thinking randy thoughts and blushed. "Oh my God...she can smell me too!" She stared at him, almost taken aback. "Does that mean you can smell me too?"

"Yeah, thought as much. She's wondering why we don't just get on with it, since we want each other like that. I told her that it would come in it's own time, when we were both ready for it."

He closed his eyes at her question and sighed at the heat in his cheeks. And wished his Earthgirl hadn't brought that up, because he loved the way she smelled when she wanted him. "Yes."

Donna wriggled enough so she could look up at him, not sure if she should be angry or pleased. "And why have you never mentioned this before?"

"Because," he started and looked at his knees. "I didn't want to scare you off. You have to admit, that's a bit weird to you."

"Yeah, well so was finding out you were evolved from an alien dolphin, but I didn't run off then and I could've." She tapped him on the chest until he looked at her, then cupped his cheek with her hand. "Doctor, whatever we manage to make of our feelings, it won't work right unless we're honest with each other. And part of that includes telling me about anything that might be considered odd to me."

"Sooo...you're not mad at me because I can smell your...ah...intimate moods?" He asked, after a long, searching look at her face and eyes.

"Eh, maybe a little. But only cos you didn't tell me before now," Donna quirked a grin as an unexpected bonus to his newly-revealed ability popped into her head, then drew him toward her. "And bonus for me - if I'm not in the mood, you'll know it and won't press. I may be the only human woman in the universe who'll never have to claim headache to avoid sex."

"Donna, you never cease to amaze me with how accepting you are," he gave her an awed smile, then took advantage of her gentle tug to swoop in for a kiss. Blimey but he loved kissing her!

"That's love, Spaceman," she managed after another of his toe-tingling specials. "Accepting the differences and learning to work with'em. Should I try and quote Shakespeare and prove it? Pretty sure I remember the applicable sonnet."

"You're thinking Sonnet 116, aren't you?" He asked and stroked her cheek, then nestled her against him again.

"'Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments. Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove.' That bit is...well, it's just us. And the best advice for us," she replied then rested against him again, just enjoying being held. Even with the roving hand that'd gently stroked down her arm and ended by holding her hand and caressing her palm. Felt nice.

"Yeah it is, isn't it?" He murmured and cuddled her against him, even though his hand seemed to have a mind of it's own and was toying with hers in a sensuous manner. He was busy remembering the rest of the sonnet, not realising he was reciting it aloud. "'O no, it is an ever-fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken: It is the star to every wand'ring bark whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks within his bending sickle's compass come. Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge of doom: If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.'"

"Y'know, for an alien bloke who claimed to be rubbish at romance, you're actually pretty good," she murmured, then snuggled closer and yawned again.

"Nah, that's just the words of a genius. I really am rubbish at romance." He stole a few more moments of being with her then reluctantly let her free from their cuddle, and was ready to say good night when he was startled by her next words.

"Come to bed with me, Doctor."

"What? But I...you're tired, Donna, you need your sleep!"

"Yes I need sleep, you prawn. But I want to sleep, and wake up, with you." She stood and held out her hand to him. "Come on, sleep with me. And no arguments about not needing sleep - I don't think you've slept since we've been here."

"Have too," he groused as he took her hand. "Just...not well." Complete lie of course - sleep was for tortoises. Except when his body finally put the brakes on, then he had to give in. Like tonight.

"Not the comfiest sofa in the universe, is it? Still don't know why you insisted on sleeping on it." She smirked and headed for her room - which would have been their room all along if he wasn't such a silly prawn - towing him along behind.

"Donna!" He yipped softly and barely managed to stop stumbling after her. "I didn't think you were ready to share a bed. And anyway, if I'm going to sleep with you, I need to change."

She giggled, but let go his hand. "Sweet, silly love, I wouldn't have minded a bit." She eyed him, stood there in nothing but shorts, then nodded. "Yeah, guess you do. I'll be expecting you to show up though, so don't just go to the sofa out of habit or you'll be in trouble!"

"And not the fun kind either, I'll bet," He grinned and waggled his eyebrows at her, then angled off to get his jim-jams, neatly dodging the obligatory swat. Five minutes later they were both snuggled into bed together, the Doctor spooned up against Donna's back, arms wrapped around her. And five minutes after that, they were both sound asleep, dreaming of the days to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending AN: Sonnet 116 is used in homage to the story that inspired me to write this one. My beta tkelparis' story 'Shakesperean Cupids'. Love ya tkel!


	15. Interlude 3, Part 3: Corals and Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I hadn't really planned on writing a third part...but, well, I'm trying to keep most chapters under 6k words these days, and there was a lot of stuff that needed to be covered still since I added in the canoodling last chapter.
> 
> Potential spit-take warning when they go tell the family. Just thought I ought to let you know, since I don't want to be responsible for $2000 lattes and such. ;)
> 
> And science facts - I have no idea if adding chromium and vanadium to diamonds would result in green, nor aluminium oxide to the chromium and diamond to make pink and red. But if you add chromium, and then aluminium oxide to beryl, you get rubies, and the vanadium instead makes emeralds. So much fun I'm having with the diamond coral reefs! :D
> 
> And last but not least, a word of warning. Do not have drinks nearby when you hit Jenny's journal entry - short eyes see too much sometimes, especially when they're curious Time Teens, and the resultant issues related to getting what you wished for... this is another official spit-take warning, and I don't want to be responsible for very expensive lattes, sodas, coffees, teas, etc :D

* * *

 

"The ocean's full of rainbows," Donna breathed in delighted awe as a particularly intense bit of sunlight caught a white diamond reef and splintered into a dazzling array of rainbow light.

"Yep," The Doctor grinned at Donna - the way her joy and delight at seeing something new and beautiful lit her face up, well, he thought she was even more beautiful than the currently rainbowed reefs. He then gestured at her chest, where the rented underwater camera was dangling between her marvellous objets de arte. "Going to take some pictures?"

"Blimey, forgot I had this!" Donna laughed sheepishly, blessed the alien technology that let them talk without fogging up their full-face scuba masks and started taking pictures.

Jenny swam through, following a neon-green fish with blue stripes and improbably large, fan-like pale green fins. It got too near the reef, and she meeped as something grey and rather ugly with wiggly tentacle-bits about it's face burst out of the reef, snapped up the fish and retreated back to it's hole before she could even think about swimming away.

"All right there, Jenny?" Donna asked, having been startled herself even though she was further away. "That looked a bit like a squid..."

"...yeah. Just startled." She rejoined her parents and sighed. "I know it's just the cycle of life, but I feel sorry for that fish. And I know you warned Dad about squids, but what's a squid?"

"Yup. Everything has to eat something else. And no, Donna, that wasn't a squid. More of a moray eel kind of thing, only with tentacles to grab onto prey even better." He blinked at Jenny's question, then would have facepalmed if the face mask hadn't been in the way. "Oh, squids. Well, you saw how that eel-ish thing had tentacles around its face that it used to grab the fish and bring it to its mouth? Squids are like that, only their bodies are bigger and not so flexible, and it's only their beak-like mouths that are surrounded by tentacles - their bodies with their eyes and brains and such are behind the tentacles...I'll show you images when we leave, all right?"

"Sure!" Jenny grinned behind her face mask, then tilted her head a bit as they all kicked a bit to keep the current from sweeping them closer to the reef. "Guess that's why they said keep at least a metre away from the reefs, right?"

"One of the reasons, yeah," The Doctor nodded then guided his family toward another reef, this one made of blue diamond, and admired how graceful Donna was in the water. "The other reason is that they don't want people breaking the reefs down to take away for jewelry or other sorts of souvenir. There's storm-wrack they pick up and the little shops either sell the bits as-is or turn them into jewelry, but there'd be no reefs at all if they just let people come along and break bits off."

Donna swam as close as they were allowed to the blue-diamond reef and snapped pictures of something that looked a bit like an anemone except it wasn't permanently rooted to the coral, but crept along like a caterpillar with its long upper fronds waving in the water looking for food, and shorter ones underneath making it go.

Their next stop was a green diamond reef. "So, when we're not on an alien planet, what makes a diamond green Spaceman?"

"On Earth and, generally, in the rest of the universe, they're green from exposure to radiation. Just not here - here it's the fact that the zooxanthellae algae absorb chromium and some vanadium. And on Earth and other planets, pink and red are from deformation while the diamond's forming, but here it's because those particular algae add aluminium oxide to the chromium in their diets. Whiiiich technically means that the red and pink are closer to being rubies, and the green closer to being emeralds, but since the base excretion of the polyps is still diamond, they're diamonds."

"Then how come there're corals of different colours close to each other and even on top of each other? Wouldn't all the minerals just blend together into a great mishmash in each reef? Or does each kind of algae in the polyps do it?" Donna watched him closely, wondering if he'd pull some sort of technobabble.

"...it's probably the algae in the polyps, but, y'know, I don't actually know for sure." He grinned at Donna, knowing she was expecting him to pull a bunch of babble and having a bit of fun skipping it and going straight to saying he didn't know.

"Sounds like a logic-shaped object to me, Dad," Jenny grinned at her parents. "Why don't we go ask someone and find out for sure when we're done swimming?" They only had an hour left according to her time sense, but oh, swimming underwater was so much fun! Almost as much fun as running! Maybe they could do this again before they left?

"Maybe in the shops you were talking about," Donna grinned at the Doctor, then chuckled at his expected groan. "Oh come on, you didn't think you could get away without shopping after you outright said there were shops, did you?"

"We-ell...yes?" He gave her a sheepish smile. "Still, I suppose I can suffer another round of shopping."

"Yeah, cos it means you can babble to clerks to your hearts' content until they get tired of it and hit you with a book that has the answers." Donna snickered, then turned and swam off to one of the more unusual formations in the area they were in - brown diamond reef with red and purple diamond corals growing off it, that, if they were on Earth she'd have identified as brain and stag and fan corals, respectively. "Though given this, I might just join in on the asking of questions," she murmured and took more pictures. Good thing the camera was digital and had some ridiculous amount of storage in it, considering the number of pictures she'd been taking.

 

* * *

 

"Spaceman, it'll be fine. Honestly," Donna said as she tucked her arm in his with Jenny behind them this time instead of running ahead. "Mum is not going to get the axe, Gramps won't let her. Besides, I'll bet you five quid that within the first five minutes one of 'em will ask 'What took you so long?'"

"Yes, but you're her only daughter, his only grandchild. Do you really think they'll be fine with this weird alien swanning in and sweeping you off your feet? In a more intimate sense, I mean?" He jumped a little, because Jenny poked him in the back.

After she'd poked her dad in the back, Jenny grinned. "Dad, you're such a worrywart. They won't kick up too much of a fuss, and all Nan will do at most is glare at you until you promise, cross both hearts, that you'll take care of Mum and make her happy."

Donna glanced back at their daughter, but couldn't ask why she was so sure because they were at the house now, and there was her Gramps just beaming away.

"Aye-aye! Look what the cat dragged in!" Wilf's grin got bigger when his little general let loose the Doctor to come hug him. "Good to see you, sweetheart!"

"You too, Gramps!" Donna squeezed him, then pulled back a little. "So, how's things?"

"Quiet, mostly. Except for Minnie Manton... woman's gone and set her sights on me, keeps making excuses to run into me." He let go his granddaughter to give Jenny a hug, then took the Doctor's hands in his. "Good to see you too, Doctor. See you've been taking care of our girls."

The Doctor grinned - he really did love spending time with Wilf. "Oh, we've been taking care of each other, really."

"Ah, that's how it always goes, when you love each other," Wilf winked, then turned away to usher them in, so he missed the gobsmacked look the Doctor'd gotten."Come on, don't want the tea getting cold."

Jenny giggled at the matching looks on her parents faces, then bounced past them and Great-Gramps into the kitchen, where she hugged her Nan and whispered. "They're being silly again." Then she giggled again.

"Well of course they are, sweetheart. I heard what Dad said," Sylvia replied, smoothing a bit of fringe off Jenny's face - the dear girl was going to need a haircut soon. "How close is he to being right?"

"Spot on," A brilliant smile lit Jenny's face, and she bounced. "Do I finally get to help with tea now?"

"Oh Jenny," Sylvia said with a smile. "You're never going to give over on that, are you?"

"Nope!" She chirped as her parents entered the kitchen. "'Specially because I can make biscuits now!"

"Oh really?" Sylvia asked, then raised an eyebrow at Donna when she stopped at the table. "That must have been quite a lot of work, given that on one of your visits you complained that Jenny here could set a pot of water on fire."

"Yeah," Donna agreed with a blush. "But she did something a bit naughty, so we thought the best punishment was to teach her how to cook."

Jenny giggled again at the matching embarrassed blushes on her parents' faces, then answered Nan and Great-Gramps' question before it could be asked. "I locked them in the telly room with TARDIS' help and we didn't let them out till they fessed up."

"Hah! You owe me five quid!" Wilf laughed as his daughter grumbled. "I told you it'd take them being locked up for them to confess!"

As Donna and the Doctor stared in utter disbelief that Wilf and Sylvia had been betting on their relationship, Sylvia went for her handbag, grumbling. "I ought not, since you said a cupboard and Jenny locked them in the telly room..."

The Doctor was mimicking a fish, and Donna was utterly speechless when her mum came back and handed her granddad a five-pound note. "Oh, stop trying to catch flies!" Sylvia snapped. "I ought to ask what took you so long and why Jenny had to lock you up! It's been obvious what you two feel for each other since you came back after that trip you met Agatha Christie on! Even if I didn't want to admit it at first."

Jenny cracked up and almost fell off her chair when Dad reached in his pocket and pulled out a five-pound note to hand to Mum.

"Four minutes, forty-five seconds," He shook his head, still gobsmacked that everyone had seen what was between them before they did. Even though Jenny had told him so, he hadn't believed it until just now.

"...you do know I was just taking the mick, right?" she replied, just as stunned as he was. Didn't stop her from taking that fiver and tucking it away, though. A bet was a bet, even if it was made in jest.

"Bet's a bet, Donna," he replied and gave her a disbelieving smile. He still - even with proof right in front of him - couldn't quite believe he wasn't dreaming this. Sylvia - the terror with the axe - was asking what had taken them so long to get together. If he didn't think it'd be too obvious, he'd pinch himself to see if he was still dreaming, asleep on Katta Go Flo and wrapped around Donna.

"Too right it is," Donna thought she'd tease her Spaceman out of his shock. "Pity I didn't make it a day at Harrods instead of just five quid."

"Donna!" He quite forgot their company in the teasing. "I am not going to be relegated to bag-boy!"

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Sunshine," Donna grinned back. "One of these days it's gonna happen!"

"The day you _need_ a new wardrobe, maybe," he mock-grumbled. "And between all those bags of yours and the TARDIS, I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon."

"Best not make any firm statements," Sylvia interjected as she put a cup of tea in front of what would obviously, eventually be her son-in-law. "You all keep telling me that ship's alive - she might decide to arrange a need for Donna to get a new wardrobe if she gets broody." She didn't mention the chance of more grandchildren prompting the need for a new wardrobe, because, after all, he was an alien. Still, he did look human, so there might be a chance...well. Best not mention that at this stage in their relationship - it might scare them off the needed business completely!

"Does seem like you're a bit outnumbered, maybe, Doctor," Wilf added, smiling at what looked like playful indignation on that wonderful alien's face. "You've got Donna, and Jenny, and you're always calling your TARDIS 'Old Girl'...ought to pick up a likely lad or two to give you a bit of backing."

"Oh no," Donna said with a reminiscent wince. "Not after his reaction to that one bloke that flirted with Jenny - I thought he was going to get us thrown off-planet!" She patted the Doctor's hand with a small smile, then rubbed her thumb on his knuckles when he caught it.

"I can't help being protective of my daughter, and he was going too far," the Doctor groused - it would have been a growl without Donna's influence.

"Daaad, I'd have broken his hand if he'd moved it anywhere else," Jenny grumbled. "You didn't have to introduce him to that wall so abruptly! Why won't you trust me to look after myself?"

"Now sweetheart," Wilf patted her hand. "No Dad ever wants to know his little girl's growing up." He shared a somewhat sad smile with Sylvia. "Your Nan there can tell you what a bear I was to Geoffrey when he was courting her, and he was as good a man as your dad is."

Jenny frowned, confused. "This is going to be one of those weird and annoying things that families do, isn't it?"

"Pretty much, sweetheart." Donna said with a fond, albeit slightly sad smile. She'd never get the chance to see her dad pull his shovel routine on the Doctor. "Can't help it if we all get overprotective of our younger ones...and yes Mum, he knows you've got an axe. Every time we come back, he worries about you deciding to pull it out."

"Hmmph," Sylvia huffed, annoyed that she'd been foiled from parental threats. But, since he'd got the point, she switched the subject to where they'd been this time. "So, what weird and wonderful alien planets have you gone to this time? Or was it a trip to the past again?"

"We went to see diamond coral reefs!" Jenny grinned and bounced a little. "And Mum shopped - show Nan what you got, Mum!"

"Diamond coral? How's that work?" Wilf asked the Doctor while Donna was pulling a fair-sized bag from her handbag. And while the Doctor explained the reefs to her granddad, Donna was showing off what they'd bought at those little shops. Well, not the books - those were staying in the TARDIS library. But the jewelry and paperweight she'd bought for her family as gifts, those she'd brought. And had great fun in showing off.

And while Sylvia was very impressed and already planning how to explain the gifts in a not-alien way to the Wednesday girls, her attention was caught by Donna's new necklace. "Did you get that on that coral planet?"

Donna covered her new pendant for a moment and blushed. "Yeah. Himself bought it for me, cos he said it reminded him of my eyes."

"And he fussed a little bit cos they didn't have matching earrings," Jenny added with a giggle. "That was a shame, but the pendant's so beautiful I don't think Mum minds."

"You know I don't, sweetheart," Donna had an incredibly sappy smile on her face.

"So he's treating you right?" Sylvia raised an eyebrow. "I mean, he is an alien and all."

"Oh yeah, Mum, he's treating me perfect." The sappy smile stayed, but a bit of a blush was added as Donna remembered just how well he'd treated her their last night on Katta Go Flo.

"Spare me the details, Donna, I don't need them." Sylvia shook her head at the fate that had led her only child to falling for an alien... but that was real love there, or she was blind as a bat.

"Wouldn't share'em anyway," Donna said, the blush fading along with the smile. "That's private, and little Miss Nosypants already knows too much as is."

Jenny squirmed under the weight of her Nan's stare, then blurted out. "But I'm curious! And that's stuff I'm going to need to know eventually!"

"Not for a long time, Jenny Caelesta," the Doctor said, joining the conversation. _Not until you've passed your centennial, at the very least_.

"But Daaad!"Jenny pouted at her father, while the rest of her family agreed with him.

"No, Jenny." _You won't be physically mature enough for that sort of thing for decades yet. You'll have to make do with the theoretical until then_. The Doctor stared at his daughter until she sighed and nodded, then he started telling more amusing stories of the places they'd been and things they'd done. But none of them mentioned the Library. It was still too painful...and how would they explain the enigma that was River Song, when they still didn't understand her themselves?

 

* * *

 

_Oh, do I need to vent tonight! I couldn't sleep because I was still too excited from Mum and Dad finally telling Nana and Great-Gramps about them being together-together, so I slipped out about an hour after they said g'night and went for the pool room to have a swim and work off this excess energy so I could sleep._

_The TARDIS tried to hide the pool room from me, but I managed to distract her so I could get there. But I couldn't believe what I saw when I did, though! I mean, honestly, they've got two bedrooms - isn't that where mating's supposed to happen? In a bedroom, on a bed? And yet, that's what they were doing, right there in the pool room! Not -in- the pool, though, just on a lounger by the side of it. Or at least precursors to mating - Dad was licking Mum's breasts, and she seemed to like it lots. And I'm guessing he liked it a lot too, or he wouldn't be doing it...but eewwww! And really! Where was his other hand, and what was it doing to make Mum squirm so much?_

_Seriously, what little I saw was absolutely disgusting! I mean, it was obviously pleasurable to them, especially Mum... but ugh! Seeing that was as gross as anchovies! If that's what flirting leads to, I'm not going to be doing a single smidgeon of it any more for at least a hundred years! It'll take that long for me to forget what I saw! AND the Old Girl was laughing at me as I slipped away to leave them to it! I don't think they spotted me as I ran off, though. And even though they were being disgusting, I'm mostly glad about it. Cos they were really getting lots closer, and I'd hate to have spoilt that._

_But mating is SOOO much more disgusting than Dad made it sound when he explained it to me...I think I'd rather stay sub-adult forever than have to do stuff like that! Yuck! Now I just have to figure out the right way to tell them to either lock doors or don't do that in rooms I might wander into...well, I'll sleep on it and see if I can figure it out. If I can get any sleep tonight!_

Jenny laid her pen down and looked over her latest diary entry, cheeks still pink from aggravation and embarrassment. The things she'd seen tonight! And she couldn't even complain properly because it was her own fault that she'd seen them!

She looked up at the ceiling as the Old Girl giggled again, and growled. _You could have kept me out of there, you know! You didn't have to pretend to be distracted!_

_It was a good lesson for you, the TARDIS replied. That there are things you would rather not know, and while you are still Little, Little One, you should accept that._

_Yes, fine, lesson learned! But now how am I going to get to sleep? I can't stop seeing what I saw!_ Jenny whined and locked her diary away, then flopped on her bed in high dudgeon.

_Read something to distract you so you will stop thinking about it,_ the Old Girl replied, along with causing a book to plop down on Jenny's lap.

_And you think that's going to work?_ Jenny asked skeptically as she picked up the book. _Ooh, an Agatha Christie! Murder on the Orient Express..._

_Concentrate on the book, Little One. It should help._ And the Old Girl gave her Little One a mental hug.

_Okay, but if it doesn't, you have to help me explain to Dad why I didn't get any sleep!_ Jenny squirmed about until she was under the covers and propped up in a good reading position, then opened the book and started reading.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending AN: It took forever to write that entry so it would still fit into the T rating. Poor Jenny. Poor, embarrassed Jenny. :D


	16. Chapter 16: A World of Diamonds and Monsters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In some parallel universe, somewhere in the infinity of the multiverse, I probably do own them. But as I'm in this universe, they all belong to the BBC.
> 
> Author's Note: Well, now the Doctor and Donna are officially a couple. Yay! But what's going to happen now that they're taking the Bus Ride of Doom?
> 
> Science facts of the chapter: Quartz(silica) + iron(Fe3) = amethyst. And, being no expert in chemistry, I'm still trying to find an 'ask a question' thing on the 'Net so I can figure out what could make a compound silicate blue when iron's added. Then again, maybe it is the X-tonic sunlight after all. And yes, when glaciers reach the edge of land and chunks fall off, it really is called calving.

 

* * *

 

"C'mon Mum, it'll be fun!" Jenny was nearly driven to bouncing off the walls of their two-bedroom suite in her frustration. "You and me and Dad, off to see a marvel of the universe!"

"But Jenny," Donna almost whined as she spoke, knowing that unless she could come up with a really, really good reason she'd be stuck with going, because the next step was probably gonna be both of them hitting her with flippin' irresistible puppy eyes. "It's like a school trip - four hours there and four hours back! I can't imagine how you can even think about being in a small space that long!"

"Because we'll be going somewhere to see something really brilliant, that's why!" Jenny turned to her dad and looked up at him. "Daaad, you tell her! You're better at it than me!"

"Oh?" He raised his eyebrow at his daughter - he thought she'd done quite well in talking up the sapphire waterfall, really. Still, he'd give it a go because he'd rather not be separated from Donna for eight hours. So he turned to his lovely ginger with a charming grin and full-on shining eager-eyes. "Waterfall made of sapphires, Donna! Enormous jewel, size of a glacier, moves along as glaciers do all the way to the Cliffs of Oblivion where it shatters at the edge - if it really was a glacier it'd be called calving but since it's a gemstone it shatters - and the sapphires fall a hundred thousand feet into a crystal ravine. It's supposed to be one of the most spectacular sights ever...won't you please come see it with us?"

Here, he let the grin fall, and hit her with puppy-eyes supported by a wistful smile. "Please? We won't be back until dinner, and that's a very long time to be apart."

Donna tried to hold out, she really did. But her Spaceman was really, really good at the puppy-eyes, and so, after all that effort of protesting, she caved in with a sigh. Mostly because he was right - that really was a very long time to be apart. "Fine. I'll go - but we're doing that anti-gravity restaurant for dinner! And if you get too lecturish, Sunshine, I reserve the right to ignore you for a good book!"

"Bibs and everything - that's a date!" He grinned, stooped to kiss his Donna firmly, with gratitude for coming with them, then bounded to the door. "Well, what are you waiting for? They're boarding in fifteen minutes!"

"Dad, you could let Mum get some shoes on." Jenny giggled from between them.

"Yeah, could do with shoes. And a book and handbag. You'd just both better be really glad you caught me before I changed for the pool," Donna groused as she slid her feet into sandals, tightened the buckles, then glanced in her handbag. TARDIS must have packed her some Christies, cos she didn't remember stuffing them in there. But that meant she was all set. "All right, all right, settle down you lot," she said as she joined the two bouncing Time Lords. "Honestly, keep acting like that and anyone will think I'm the mother of _two_ hyperactive kids."

Jenny grinned at her mum's fond smile and ignored the not-really-complaint, except for trying to restrain her bouncing. "Sorry. Got all this energy from Dad, and it just begs to be expressed in moving." She looked up at her dad. "Can we run there? We haven't run anywhere for ages!"

"It's been barely two days since we last ran for our lives, Jenny. That's not ages," he said with a fond smile. "We're supposed to be here so we don't have to run for a bit. You know, relaxing family thing like we did on Katta Go Flo."

"And that's why we're here on Midnight, because those nitwits on Luradi IV were trying to kill Mum cos she's ginger, so Mum needs the relaxation the most." Jenny scowled at the memory, then continued with a bit of a pout. "But Midnight is a lot more boring than Katta Go Flo. No beaches, no frisbee games..." _No teasing you about you and Mum..._

"S'pose you are just a bit young to appreciate a spa day," Donna acknowledged, and ignored her love's sputtering. Jenny had probably zinged him again...and for the hundredth time, Donna wished she was one of the rare humans born telepathic and not just a bit psychic - it'd be lots of fun to know just what that girl of theirs kept saying to make him sputter like that. Not to mention it'd be wonderful to talk to him in their heads without him having to initiate the link all the time.

 _That's because we're together in very nearly every sense, so now you can't tease me about getting with her_. He ruffled his daughter's hair fondly, then grinned at her squawk of protest and offered his arm to Donna as they walked.

"Eww. I saw you in the middle of your 'spa day' Mum...how can you call having all that glop on you a good thing? That was more appealing-looking sludge we were covered with on Merkatri! At least it was smoother and didn't look so...so...blergh." Jenny pulled a face for multiple reasons, then dithered a bit because she wanted to forge on ahead and find a good seat on the bus, but she didn't want to be that far from her parents and be stuck waiting till they caught up. _Yeah, and I'm thrilled. But I can still tease you...I just have to tease about making sure doors are locked, or when you're going to formalise it. And don't ruffle my hair or I'll never wear it down again!_

"Cos unlike that sludge - which did horrible things to my skin by the way, and your dad still owes me a shopping trip for a new outfit! - the gunk you saw on me was specifically good for me. Or my skin, rather...probably wouldn't be good if I tried to eat it, even if it was all seaweeds and stuff." Donna tucked her arm into his, then grinned at their daughter, now walking backward.

"But Donna, I took you shopping the day after, remember?" The Doctor whinged a bit even as he was keeping an eye out behind Jenny to make sure she didn't run into anything. _I'm sure you'll come up with something to make me sputter, Little Star - and go left a bit, you're about to miss the doorway._

"Yeah, and then we had to interrupt that cos somebody wanted to kidnap our little girl." She gently elbowed him in the ribs and marvelled at how good Jenny was at walking backwards. "Still don't have a new outfit, do I?"

"Well yes, we did get interrupted. Fine," he grumbled. "Next time we're visiting your family, I'll take you shopping for a new outfit. At least it's quiet when we visit them." He watched Jenny turn around, then wondered what her attention was caught by - probably the shuttle, since they were finally at the boarding area.

"At Harrods, mind, not some hole in the wall store. If I'm going to get a new outfit, I want it to be quality!" The teasing grin she gave him offset the sting of her sharp tone, then she turned to watch their daughter start walking face-forward and nodded in approval. It'd be difficult to board the shuttle walking backwards, no matter how good their girl was at the trick.

After standing in the queue a few minutes, Donna watched as the Doctor pulled three tickets from his jacket and handed them to the hostess. Once they were inside, she murmured. "I'm impressed. I expected you to use the psychic paper."

"Yeah, well," he said as he corralled Jenny to come sit in their row of seats, then grinned at his Donna. "Got a good teacher for how little things like this work in you, don't I? And since we're all registered, guest-like people, it'd actually be more bother to get us this trip with the psychic paper then to just get tickets."

"Oh, I'm good all right," she snarked and sat down at the window seat. They'd let Jenny have the aisle seat in case she had the fidgets. Or, rather, for when she couldn't contain her fidgets. "Only took me what, six months to get something like that through your head?"

"Eh, if you count the few efforts you made before we got Jenny, then possibly. Otherwise it's only taken me four. Or maybe five." He grinned, squeezed her hand, then turned to be surprised by the Hostess handing them each an armload of stuff.

After the Doctor had a bit of chat with the Hostess, Donna waved one particular item at him. "Complimentary slippers? Really?"

"Yeah Dad, what are we going to do with complimentary slippers?" Jenny asked, eyeing the objects in crinkly plastic-ish wrappings, then stuffed them in the pouch in the back of the seat in front of her. "I mean, the headphones might be useful, the modem link too. And the snacks are going to be handy. But earplugs and slippers?"

"It's four hours there and four hours back, sweetheart. Some people probably sleep either on the way up or the way back. Earplugs would block out the sound of the other passengers and allow for peaceful sleeping. Still don't get the slippers though."

"Aww, who cares?" he asked and, like his daughter, shoved the slippers in the seat-pouch - then the rest of his plunder went there too as he heard someone behind them talking about their destination. He knelt on his seat and looked over the back of it with a smile. "Compound silica with iron pigmentation usually results in amethysts though."

The older man blinked up at him, then glanced to his right and left, where a blonde girl and ginger woman had peeked over as well. "Yes, well, that's not really a compound silicate except when discussing the iron, not to mention we're talking about a compound silicate plus iron pigmentation under an Xtonic sun when discussing the Sapphire Waterfall. Hobbes, by the way. Professor Winfold Hobbes."

The Doctor shook the offered hand with a grin. "I'm the Doctor, this is Donna," he bobbed his head left, and then right when he continued. "And this is our daughter Jenny. Hello!"

"It's my fourteenth time," Hobbes said with a bit of pride.

"Ooh. Our first," the Doctor replied, grinning - which he turned on the young lady sitting next to Professor Hobbes and offered her his hand as well. "Hallo!"

"Hello. I'm Dee Dee. Dee Dee Blasco." She smiled at the trio peeking over their seats and shook the Doctor's hand, but immediately thereafter had to rummage for a water bottle.

The Doctor and Donna sat back down, but Jenny watched the family she'd seen while they were boarding finally get settled, after a bit of fuss about the boy not wanting to sit with his parents. We-ell, maybe he had a point - they did seem a bit silly and not at all like her parents. But still, he shouldn't be so sulky about time with his family...right?

"About time," Donna murmured as the Hostess finally stopped with the passing out of complimentary everything and came to the front. "I was starting to think the four hours there was going to really be two, with the other half all this passing out of complimentary whatnots."

"Aww, but it was fun! We got to meet a couple of people too," he said, then tugged Jenny back around to sit down when the Hostess started talking about fastening seatbelts and so on.

They got to hear all about what should've been their route, except for a rockfall - oh, they'd called it a diamond-fall, but blimey, call a spade a spade! - and then the nightmare began. As the music and cartoons and art show collided in a mind-boggling cacophony, Donna leant in as close as possible to the Doctor so there'd be a hope of him hearing her. "Now I really get the complimentary earplugs!"

The Doctor winced at the noise, glanced around and saw not only his daughter also wincing but also one of the other passengers, then discretely pulled out his sonic and zapped the entertainment system, making it all fold right back up where it had come from. He got a raised eyebrow from the other passenger who'd noticed, but she went right back to her book so that was all right.

Meanwhile some of the rest of the passengers were complaining about what to do for four hours, so of course he suggested everyone talk to each other.

Donna gave him a fond smile as all the passengers looked at him in confusion.

 

* * *

 

First, Jenny had gone to talk to the nearest passenger, but Ms. Silvestri didn't want to talk. Oh, she was nice about it, but Jenny could tell she just wanted to read, so she wandered back to her parents to listen to the other set of parents talk about a silly thing that had happened to them. But honestly, why advertise a pool if it was only abstract?

A little later, while her dad was talking to Dee Dee back in the galley about the Lost Moon of Poosh, Jenny stopped by Professor Hobbes to get him to expand on what he'd said about the sapphire waterfall. After the fascinating lecture, she dropped in on Jethro, determined to find out why he was so sulky.

When she heard what his reason was, she just stared at him for a minute in disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me," she finally said. "You're sulking because you didn't get any say in where your family went on holiday?"

"It's been the most boring holiday ever," was his reply, although his sulks were melting away some. Any teenage boy talking to a pretty girl would have some of the mopes vanish.

"Well, yeah, I'll admit that Midnight probably wasn't the best place to take a kid - there's nearly no activities that aren't for adults, and we can't go outside for a wander. Bor-ring. But still," she continued, frowning at him. "They're your parents, and they obviously love you enough to want you with them instead of stuck with relatives or in some boarding place... don't you think you could show a little appreciation of that?"

"They don't understand me," he replied, back to his sulks. Pretty girl or not, his parents were such a downer.

"Well, what don't they understand? I mean, if it's the teenage condition, you've got to give them some leeway cos it's been ages since they've been one." Jenny thought that was perfectly reasonable.

"They don't understand the way I think," he replied. "They... well, you heard their stories. They're boring, and they never ask why about anything. Me, I wanted to know why they advertised a pool if it was only abstract. And they hate that I like to think about possibilities. Like this planet. Nobody can go out on it, we can only look at it through special glass and travel in armoured transport. Even that professor you were talking to earlier has never been able to go out there...how do we know what's out there besides rocks?"

That wasn't what she was expecting to hear, and she tilted her head at Jethro curiously. "What, you think there might be some form of life that isn't carbon-based out there, something that can not only survive, but thrive in Xtonic sunlight?"

"It's a possibility, isn't it?" He was defensive, and ready to stuff his ear buds back in his ears at the first sign of mockery. He got enough of that from his parents.

"Yeah," Jenny grinned. "I'll admit it's not the likeliest, cos if I remember right, even the known silicon-based life-forms would fry in this sunlight, but nobody knows everything that exists in the universe. We - my mum, dad and I - wouldn't travel if we knew everything. Love finding out new stuff, we do. But if there was some kind of life out there that could thrive on an airless planet constantly bathed in X-tonic sunlight, it'd be hard to detect cos it'd be totally outside known experience and nobody'd be looking for it."

"I suppose," he allowed with reluctance. "But seriously, there could be anything out there. Could be stalking us now, for all we know..." He lowered his voice and continued. "It just seems really weird to me that a diamond-fall blocked our planned route just as we were setting out." He glanced around to make sure the Hostess was nowhere near them, then continued. "They have boring games on the modem link, so I used it and my pocket computer to hack into the computer that's actually driving this bus."

Jenny opened her mouth to protest that what he'd done was dangerous, but he continued before she could. "I didn't mess with the navigation or anything, I just wanted to see the records, because I was curious. And before today, all the rockfalls happened at night and only the biggest ones weren't cleared up before a bus set out. It's the temperature differential, see, between the X-tonic daytime and the freezing night. So...what made the rocks fall in the daytime?"

Jenny fought off a shiver at his entirely too-spooky theory, but she couldn't let him assume there was rock-manipulating life on the planet just because before this all the rockfalls had happened in the night. "We-ell, it could be caused by some unknown form of life. But it could also be because the fractures weren't quite solidly through from the night freeze, and the heat made them expand and shatter off."

Jethro looked sulky again, then sighed and nodded because she was right - it could have happened that way. "I guess it could have happened like that. But you just came up with that because you didn't want to think about something that could live out there, didn't you?"

"Maybe a little," Jenny admitted as the Hostess came around with dinners. "But a good part of it is because of Occam's Razor."

"The simplest explanation is usually the right one, right?" Jethro smiled a little, then pulled the foil off his meal. "Huh. Wonder what this is?"

Jenny peeled the foil off her own meal and frowned. "Looks like it wants to be mashed potatoes, some kind of vegetable and...well, I think it's meat."

"Looks like meat, anyway," he agreed, then stabbed a piece with his fork and brought it up to eye level, nearly going cross-eyed from the examination."Suppose it's chicken, or beef?"

Jenny likewise examined a piece of her meat, then popped it in her mouth and chewed. Once she swallowed, she analysed the taste and frowned in confusion. "I...well, I think it's both." She glanced around to see her dad eating with Professor Hobbes and Dee Dee, and her mum eating with Ms. Silvestri, then returned to talking to Jethro. Only this time she asked him what living a life of mostly not travelling was like, because she didn't want to talk about his creepy theory anymore.

 

* * *

 

During the meal, Donna was sat with Skye. She felt a little guilty about abandoning Dee Dee and the Professor to her beloved alien, but she wasn't in the mood for all the science the three were babbling about. "So, got anyone waiting for you back at the Leisure Palace?" She asked after a few bites. Wasn't bad for a pre-packaged meal, but she preferred her own potatoes.

"No, it's just me," Skye replied after a bite of what was passing for the vegetable portion of the meal.

"I've done that. It can be a blast, if you don't get stuck with tight-scheduled outings and 'don't drink the water'." Donna smiled at the woman and ate a few more bites.

"I'm still getting used to it. I've found myself single rather recently, not by choice." For a moment, Skye stopped eating altogether.

"What happened?" Donna sympathetically rested a hand on the other woman's.

"Oh, the usual." Skye's lips curled in a bitter smile. "She needed her own space, as they say. A different galaxy, in fact. I reckon that's enough space, don't you?"

"Blimey," Donna breathed, then shook her head. She'd heard enough variations on that one and lived through something that could even be called worse. "Y'know, you're not alone in that. I had a fiance once. He tried to feed me to a giant spider to get rid of me. My sweetheart over there," she paused and waved her empty fork at the Doctor. "he had a girl leave him for another universe." She gave Skye a sad smile. "It hurts for a real long time, when you love someone and they leave you. But it really does get better with time...you just have to keep on living. S'pose that's the hard part, going on when you don't really want to."

"I suppose she'd have fed me to a giant spider if she could have. It wasn't...wasn't..." Skye trailed off, almost in tears.

"Shhh. Some people are just cruel that way. She'll get her comeuppance eventually...after all, my ex-fiance ended up being the one fed to the spider. Wasn't on purpose mind, but that's how he went. You just keep on living, Skye. Keep on living and don't let her hold you back."

"It's just so hard," Skye kept her lips pressed tight for a moment.

"Oh I know," Donna nodded, understanding perfectly. "You give your heart to someone, then they trample it with malice aforethought. I cried for weeks over Lance - that was his name, Lance - but I couldn't just stop living, either. This's a good start, going on holiday, getting your head together. You'll get there in time, Skye, trust me."

"Oh, I suppose," Skye sniffed, then smiled wanly. "I won't be looking for anyone anytime soon though."

"Nah. Didn't start looking myself till it'd been a year. Then after a while, I found my darling and his little girl and we all just clicked." That wasn't quite the way it had happened, Donna mused as they finally got back to their meals, but it wasn't as though she could tell the woman the truth about falling for the last of the Time Lords, was it?

"She calls you Mum, you know." Skye said, then frowned at her meat. "Is this beef or chicken?"

"Yeah. Jenny's never known another mother. Been deprived of mother-daughter stuff, but I'm fixing that." She supposed that might have been considered a lie, but it really was true - Jenny'd never had another mother. At Skye's question, she stabbed a bit of the meat on her fork and eyed it. "Y'know, I've got no idea."

 

* * *

 

After everyone had eaten, it appeared as though conversational topics were exhausted. So Professor Hobbes took advantage of having a captive audience to lecture about the planet he'd studied for so very long. Donna sat next to the Doctor and made him sit down so Jethro and Jenny who were sat behind them could see easily instead of having to lean.

"So, this is Midnight, do you see, bombarded by the sun. Xtonic rays, raw galvanic radiation." He paused a moment, gesturing at the slide illustrating the planet with arrows indicating the Xtonic rays, then said. "Dee Dee, next slide." He continued as the slide switched over to a series of graphs and pie-charts indicating the composition of the planet. "It's my pet project. Actually, I'm the first person to research this. Because, you see, the history is fascinating...because there is no history! There's no life in this entire system. There couldn't be. Before the Leisure Palace Company moved in, no one had come here in all eternity. No. Living. Thing."

"But how do you know?" Jethro quirked a sardonic smile, and Jenny rolled her eyes at him. Still, if the subject never got raised, it'd never be settled. "I mean, if no one can go outside..."

His mum Val rolled her eyes and rather tiredly said, "Oh, his imagination. Here we go."

"He's got a point, though," the Doctor said, and looked back at his daughter and Jethro with a bit of a smile. "Never can know anything for sure about a planet you can't walk on."

"Exactly!" Professor Hobbes nodded and lightly hit the back of the seat he was sat in for emphasis. "We look upon this world through glass, safe inside our metal box. Even the Leisure Palace was lowered down from orbit. And now here we are, crossing Midnight, but never touching it."

As though his words had been stage direction, the Crusader shook slightly as the engines whined loudly, then made a sort of crunching, rattling, grinding noise as they cycled down rather abruptly. The shuttle thumped as it came to rest on the ground, and everyone looked around in puzzlement.

Jenny was looking around, frowning, as everyone else started talking - Jethro's mum and dad first, asking silly questions, stating the obvious. Then she turned her frown on Jethro and muttered. "You just had to come up with that creepy theory, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but it is kind of cool, isn't it? We're finally going to learn more about what might be out there on the planet." He grinned at her, and she rolled her eyes at him.

"At the risk of everybody but us and my parents panicking, yeah." She huffed and moved a row forward to join her mum - this was just getting too creepy for words. First Jethro had a creepy theory, then something made the bus stop.

"You all right, sweetheart?" Donna asked as their guest lecturer was telling them that the expeditions never stopped, and rolled her eyes as Skye rubbed his nose in the obvious.

"Would be if Jethro didn't have a creepy theory about all this, but good enough." Jenny quirked a bit of a grin. "How about you?"

"Starting to wish I'd stayed behind for my sunbathing, actually," Donna gave her little girl a bit of a grin too, then turned around to give Jethro a mild glower for enjoying the fact they were broken down. "D'you mind? It's weird enough the bus stopping when they never have before. Tone it down, yeah?"

"Thing is, Mum," Jenny said as Jethro's parents took him to task as well. "His creepy theory is that something arranged the rockfall so we'd go in a different direction. And now the bus is stopped." She stared at her dad, gone to investigate the cockpit and talk to the driver, then sighed as he slipped past the Hostess to investigate. "And I don't know anything about micropetrol engines to even figure out how anything but running out of fuel could stop one."

"It didn't run out of fuel. The bus," Dee Dee said, softly, as she joined them. "Dad's a mechanic, I've heard lots of engines growing up. That wasn't the sound of an engine running out of fuel. It was more... well, I'd have said it was an electromagnetic pulse frying the control modules that keep the engine running. But that's impossible, because a pulse of that magnitude would have fried the interior electronics as well, even through these walls."

"Well at least we've got lights still," Donna said, just as softly. "Imagine what this lot would be like if the power went out."

"Rather not, thanks," Dee Dee managed a slightly hysterical laugh, then went to check on her professor.

"Pity Dad's gone to talk to the driver," Jenny said once they were alone again. "I'd love to ask him about it."

"He'll be back soon enough, sweetheart." Donna gave her daughter a reassuring smile, and wondered why Jenny wasn't using her telepathy to talk to her dad. Some sort of etiquette she'd never paid attention to before? Or maybe she was worried she'd distract him...well, she'd find out soon enough, she thought, and watched the door.


End file.
